


Grayson Or Caffrey?

by Spnfandom8



Category: Batman - Fandom, White Collar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:07:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 29,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26915617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spnfandom8/pseuds/Spnfandom8
Summary: Dick Grayson left his home and his identity behind years ago. This is the story of what happens when those lies begin to crumble and his family tries to bring him home.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 38





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I am cross posting all of my fics from Fanfiction.net onto here. this is one of the first fics I ever wrote, and it honestly makes me cringe reading back through it all. That being said I won't be editing anything or changing the story, just keep in mind that my writing had greatly improved since I wrote this, and I hope it isn't judged too harshly.

When I came into the office this morning I went looking for Peter, hoping that today we’ll have an interesting case. When I finally found Peter he was in his office as usual ‘workaholic’ I thought. Always working, reminded me of someone, someone I was trying to forget about.  
Someone I was trying to forget because they didn’t need me anymore. Probably never needed me in the first place. I left because they didn’t need me anymore, ‘and none of them cared enough to get you to stay ’the pessimistic voice in the back of my head reminded me, always reminded me.  
‘ you left because you thought you wanted some space from the overwhelming feelings you were experiencing, ‘nobody wants you anyway’  
‘why do you think B replaced you?’  
‘ the only reason they even keep you around is because your another body to work’  
‘they don’t actually care about you’.  
All of these negative thoughts kept invading my mind every time I was around them. So I decided that I would just try and get some space, I would leave for a while, but surely they would want me to come back? right? wrong. I left and they did nothing, said nothing. I even kept my phone, the one that had all their numbers in it, thinking, surely they’ll call, I mean they are my family, and they have my number. I kept that phone for 4 months. I only got one phone call, it was damian, wondering if i took something from his room. In four months of me traveling europe I received one phone call and it was only to ask if I knew where something was.  
After that I ditched the phone and I decided that I didn’t really need them, after all they obviously didn’t need me. I was a mess after that, almost always drunk and out to find something that would fill this hole inside my chest. After a couple months of that pathetic pity party,  
I was finally sober long enough to realise that this shouldn’t be my life, this isn’t the life my parents wanted for me, this isn’t the life that I wanted for myself. So the first thing I did was sober up and get a new id. After that I went to the nearest airport and took the first plane to somewhere that wasnt Gotham.  
New york, I was reborn as Neal Caffrey in New York City, which is also where I met my best friend Mozzie. Mozzie taught me everything, well, Mozzie taught me how to take everything B taught me and turn it into something new, turns out most everything B taught me could be turned around into something useful for Neal Caffrey, world renowned art thief. And you know how it goes from there, me stealing with mozzie at my side, the feds taking notice, the feds chasing me, me finding it fun, the feds catching me, me finding that not so much fun, prison for 4 years, break-out for the girl.  
Oh, I forgot to mention the girl. Kate, kate was the love of my life, we worked together, but the work was exhilarating, and I don’t think that it can really be classified as work, because work isn’t usually that much fun. It was a lifestyle. A way of life, and it was amazing, while it lasted. You know the saying, the couple that plays together stays together? Well not so much. Long story short kate is now dead.  
And the light that she brought to my world is gone, but its ok, I still have peter and mozzie. And they are enough. Right? Enough to keep the dark thoughts at bay? Enough to keep me sane? I felt someone grab my arm and snapped out of my dark thoughts.  
As peter towed me into the conference room grumbling about me and my daydreaming, I wondered how long I was off in my own little world, reliving my past. Peter answered my question by mumbling about how now he had to recap the case all over again because I wasn’t listening. Wow, I spaced out on an entire briefing.  
As we got to the conference room I saw Jones and Diana laughing with another man, and although I couldn’t see his face, he seemed familiar. As we walked up to the table the man stood up and turned around, the easygoing smile slipped off my face, being replaced with something akin to dread. The mans face froze when he looked at me “ this is Damian Wayne, he is here concerning a painting that was stolen from Wayne Enterprises last night.”


	2. chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy. :)

“Grayson” is the first thing that he says, his face morphing from confusion into anger.  
I recovered quickly “who” I asked, hoping to throw him off. “Tt you, don’t you dare try and play dumb with me Grayson” my face paled, knowing there way no way out of this.  
I looked over at Peter, who had a confused look on his face. I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t know what to say.  
Thankfully Diana took over and calmly told Damian that he must be mistaken, I was Neal Caffrey, not this Grayson person.  
Which was the wrong thing to say to the boy with the volatile temper, although I guess he wasn’t really a boy anymore, was he? No, Damian had grown up while I was gone.  
“ What?” he asks incredulously, “you’re Neal Caffrey? The thief? The conman?” I nodded my head, shame twinging in my mind at the contempt in my little brothers voice. “Tt you abandoned your family, so that you could become a thief?”  
Anger suddenly rushed through me, how dare he say that I abandoned them, if anything they abandoned me.  
Peter suddenly spoke up, reminding us that we had an audience, “your family? Neal, what is he talking about?” Jones and Diana were also looking at us questioningly. Damian, on the other hand, was just staring at me, waiting for an answer. When I didn’t give him one, he just got angrier.  
“Tt do you know what you did? To father? He searched for you for months, he almost died, too many times, because he was so consumed with the pain of not knowing where you were, if you were okay. And of course he didn’t show it, he just shut the rest of us out, the only time he spoke to any of us was to ask if we had any leads, if we were any closer to finding you” “you almost tore our family apart”  
I was frozen, ‘what was I supposed to say to that.’ so I said nothing, I just watched as my little brother stalked onto the elevators, and out of my sight.  
As soon as he was gone I slid to the floor, not caring that it would wrinkle my suit, I drew my legs to my chest and rested my forehead on my knees. My thoughts were swirling rapidly through my mind, ‘why?  
Why now? Why now when i’ve just gotten my life back together?  
When i’ve finally found people who care about me again,  
when i’ve built myself a life again, when the empty pit inside my chest that my family, and then kate, left gaping inside me ached just a little less,  
when I was finally able to look into the mirror and not wonder ‘why, why wasn’t I good enough.’  
‘ What Damian said hadn’t quite registered in my mind, but then it clicked, and anger flooded my mind.  
‘I almost tore our family apart? That doesn’t even make sense. I left, and they did nothing, for four months, I didn’t just up and leave, I kept a clear line of communication open for four months... Then what did Damian mean?  
I was dragged out of my musings by a voice calling my name. I slowly picked my head up and looked up at the person who was calling my name, it was Jones, he had a concerned look on his face. “Come on Caffrey, Peter said to take you home, him and Diana will follow when they can.”  
“ home?” I asked, ‘why was I being sent home? It’s the middle of the day’  
“yeah, Neal, home, we all have questions, but they can wait until we get somewhere more private”  
“Oh”  
‘fuck, what am I supposed to tell them? I told Peter I would never lie to him, and i’m not going to break that promise. But then what am I going to tell them’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts? good? Bad? Lemme know what you think. :)


	3. chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy. :)

As Jones and I made the silent trek down to his car, I could tell he wanted to ask me something, but was restraining himself. I would normally ask him what’s on his mind, but right now, I don’t think I want to know what’s going on inside his head.  
‘So far I haven’t come up with any brilliant ideas on what to tell them. I’ve been trying to figure out how to not tell them the truth, without lying to them. Maybe I could only answer direct questions? That might work!  
If I only answer direct questions and I don’t elaborate then maybe I won’t have to give anything away.  
Now that I’ve figured that out, my brain is no longer occupied with a larger problem than the one I’ve been trying not to think about. Shit, what am I supposed to do now, I can’t just keep on going like this never happened, even if I manage to evade Peter and don’t actually reveal anything about myself, Damian knows.   
And if Damian knows, then he’s going to tell B, and if B knows, he’s going to come here. Fuck. I’ve spent the last 8 years avoiding anything to do with Gotham, and the vigilantes that reside there. Every time I was somewhere that they might be, I would leave.  
Not because I thought they were looking for me, but because I didn’t know what I would do if I ever saw them again, or what they would do if they saw me.  
I was always scared that if they saw me they wouldn’t care, or worse, that if they saw me they wouldn’t even recognise me, that they would have already forgotten about me.  
So I always avoided them and their colleagues, I made sure that wherever they were, I wasn’t.  
Damian blew that apparent misconception out of the water, he obviously recognised me. But why, why did he care? When they very obviously didn’t before. And now, now I don’t know what to do. It was a fucking coincidence.  
No, no it wasn’t a coincidence, if I had been keeping better track of where they were, I would have known that Damian was in the city, I would have known where he was today. But I got complacent, and now they’ve stumbled into my new life, that’s on me. And now I have to deal with the fallout.   
Okay Neal, you can deal with this. Best case scenario, Damian doesn’t tell anyone, I evade Peter’s questions, and my life goes back to normal. Ha, as if. Ok, worst case scenario, Damian does tell everyone, they show up, blow my Neal Caffrey identity, and I have to leave my new family and start over, again.   
Not reassuring, at all. What am I supposed to do? If I stay they are probably going to come looking for answers, because while I don’t believe they care that I left, I do think that they are going to want to know why I left.   
Maybe I could cut the anklet and just run, run with mozzie, we could go to an island, sip drinks on the beach, paint, sleep in. No, I can’t do that, I’ve just found a home, somewhere I belong, and I haven’t had that in a long time. I won’t trade that feeling for any beach. So, now all I have to do is figure out a way for B to not find me, yeah, world’s greatest detective, and all I have to do is hide from him in a 2 mile radius. I’m screwed.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts? good? bad? meh? lemme know what you think. :)


	4. chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy. :)

I was pulled out of my thoughts as we pulled up to June’s house. Thankfully June was out of town for the next two days visiting her granddaughter.  
I slid out of the car and led Jones up the stairs into my apartment, I didn’t really know what to do once we got there, since Peter and Diana weren’t there yet. I eventually decided to just do what I wanted.  
I went to my fridge and pulled out a leftover beer from when Peter was last at my house and threw it over my shoulder to Jones, then I went to my closet and changed into sweatpants and a tank top, when that was done I reached to the familiar spot at the top of my closet and pulled out a half finished bottle of whiskey, there for times like this, when I couldn’t seem to get my mind to stop moving so damn fast.  
As I emerged from the closet with the bottle in hand, I saw Jones sitting on my couch looking around my apartment with curiosity, meanwhile I was wondering what he was curious about.  
He turned to look at me as I closed the door to my closet and upon seeing the look on my face, answered my unspoken question, “there aren’t any pictures” he said simply.   
I knew there weren’t any pictures around my house, Peter had commented on it before, I told him that I never carried pictures with me while I was on the run, I didn’t want to get anyone in hot water simply because I was carrying their picture around.  
That wasn’t technically a lie, I never did carry pictures with me while I was on the run, I had them stashed in a safety deposit box in chicago, and nobody knew the code except me, not even Mozzie or Kate.  
When I finally got out of jail I had Mozzie go get them for me, he didn’t know what it was he was retrieving, just that it was something I needed. Now they were safely hidden in one of the little hidey holes that were all over my apartment.   
I just hummed an affirmative to Jones as I strolled to my kitchen and grabbed a glass out of the cabinet, pouring myself just enough to get me buzzed, but not enough to make me drunk. With that task completed, I took my drink and went over to my couch and carefully flopped into it, closing my eyes and dreading the moment Peter would arrive. That moment happened a lot faster than I had hoped. I had been busy praying to the traffic gods to make Peter late, no dice.  
I was about halfway done with my drink when Peter arrived with Diana in tow, as they entered my apartment I picked my head up to look at them, I tried to smile, but it never really got onto my face. Peter glanced down worriedly at me, then looked over to Jones questioningly, “yeah, he’s been like this since we left the office.”   
‘I know that i’m not acting like myself, and I know that it really isn’t going to help me try to convince my team that Damian Wayne wasn’t connected to me, but I didn’t have the energy to put on my happy face. For the last 8 years, i’ve prided myself on always being ready for the con, small or big, no matter what i’m feeling on the inside, i’ve been able to hide it with a mischievous smirk, and a playful demeanor.  
But now, I can’t seem to hide how i’m feeling from my team, they are my family. B always used to tell me that I was great at hiding my true feelings, but not from him, not from my family. I guess that changed at some point, when they decided I wasn’t good enough anymore.  
Peter and Diana and Jones though, they are my family now, and although I wouldn’t tell them that, I know that even if I could put on my happy face right now, they would see right through it.  
So instead I decide that stalling is always a good tactic. I get up to go get them drinks, walking as slowly as I can, without it looking too much like i’m stalling. I collect more beers from the fridge, and slowly walk back. When I get there I put the drinks on the coffee table, and sit down waiting for the barrage of questions. When nothing happens I put an expectant look on my face, hoping to prompt them into saying something, it works.  
“Neal, who was that?” Peter asks   
“Damian Wayne” I answer simply   
“I know that Neal, I was wondering who he is to you.”  
“Damian Wayne is nobody to Neal Caffrey” ‘truth’  
“Neal, who does Damian Wayne think you are”  
‘shit, I have to answer, but then they’ll go digging into Richard Grayson… no way around this one unless I lie’  
“Richard Grayson”  
Diana then pipes in, “Richard Grayson was the first kid that Bruce Wayne took in, but when he was 19 he kinda fell of the face of the earth, no one has seen him since”  
Peter shot her a questioning look, she quickly defended herself, “Christie likes to keep up on celebrity news”  
“Ok Neal, since it seems you want to do this the hard way, we might be here a while”  
“Hence the sweatpants and whiskey, Peter” I said with no small amount of sass

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts? good? bad? meh? lemme know what you think. :)


	5. chapter 5

Damian P.O.V

I could feel the rage bubbling underneath my skin, in the pit of my stomach. We searched for him for years, and when I finally did stumble across him, it was only to find that he was happily working for the FBI. Like as if they do any real work.  
The only reason I was even there was because one of father’s painting’s was stolen from his New York office. I don’t know why it’s so important anyhow, it’s just a painting. It’s not like father doesn’t have the money to buy another one, but he wanted me to go to the white collar offices to see about getting someone to locate it for him.  
I did my research, I found out that Neal Caffrey, reformed forger and conman, was the best person to locate stolen art, when he first became a CI for the FBI his handlers closure rates spiked, and haven’t fallen.  
The only thing that I couldn’t find on Neal Caffrey was a picture, I guess the FBI can do something right after all. Although Why we couldn’t just go get it ourselves is beyond me, but father wants what father wants.   
I thought this would be easy enough, tell them what was stolen, they would retrieve it, done.  
Yet when I turned around in that conference room, I saw those familiar blue eyes staring back at me, I could feel my face devoiding of all emotion, a defence mechanism. And when I said his name, he had the gall to tell me that I was mistaken.  
And then, only to find out that the reason I was there, was to see him, the infamous Neal Caffrey, about getting the painting back. I was furious, he abandoned us to become a thief, and then a pet for the FBI.  
and I told him as much, and more, I was so angry I forgot about the other people in the room, I told him about how he almost destroyed father, about how he almost destroyed my family, and he just stood there.  
So I left, and now here I am, walking down the street, with no idea what to do next. I should call father, but what am I to say, “yes father, I found Grayson, he has a new home, he seems happy, no, he doesn’t seem to care that he almost destroyed you when he left without a word 8 years ago.” I’m sure that would go over well.  
I could call Todd, he has been hanging out in New York a lot recently, i’m sure he would love to know what his big brother has been up to all these years. With my mind made up I hailed a taxi and headed back to my hotel to meet up with Todd.  
When I got there he was already waiting for me in the lobby, I guess he was closer than I thought, though he was getting some odd looks for the leather jacket, combat boots combo in the middle of the lobby of the most expensive hotel in New York.  
I nodded for him to follow me as I made my way to the penthouse suite on the top floor. “Why am I here damian?”   
Jason asked irritably, I ignored him and made my way to the drinks cart to get a glass of Jack Daniels. I was stalling and I knew it, but it seemed to be harder than I thought it would be to tell someone that he was alive, and happy. So I stalled some more by asking if he wanted a drink. He didn’t. “Grayson’s alive”   
“What?”  
“I saw him today, he is going by the name Neal Caffrey now, he works for the FBI, he is a reformed forger and conman, and I don’t know how to tell father.”  
“What did you do?”  
“I left”  
“No, seriously Damian, what did you do?”  
“I didn’t do anything Todd, despite what you might think, I do have self control, and no matter how much I wanted to hit him, I was in the middle of the FBI offices, I would have been arrested”  
‘That was a lie, I could care less if I was arrested, I didn’t hit him because I couldn’t decide what to do, I wanted to hit him, because he left and he abandoned me, I also wanted him to hug me like he used to, because no matter how much I used to protest, Grayson gave the best hugs, and I missed it.   
“Well then, what are we gonna do?”  
“I think the best idea right now, is to do recon on Grayson, find out who he converses with, who his enemies are-”   
“No” I was cut off by Todd   
“what do you mean no, it gives us time to figure out what we should do”  
“No, I think Dickie bird deserves a visit from his brother, after so much time apart, don’t you?”


	6. chapter 6

“So Damian Wayne thinks that you are Richard Grayson, correct?” Peter asks me.  
“Yes” I answer, hoping he isn’t going to ask me what I think he’s going to ask me.   
“Are you Richard Grayson?”   
“No, i’m Neal Caffrey” truth, I haven’t been Dick Grayson in a long time  
“Do you have an alias for Richard Grayson?”   
“No” truth I don’t have an alias for Richard Grayson, I used to be Richard Grayson, but he was never an alias. He is the person I once was, the person I no longer am. We may have the same body, the same face, the same mannerisms, but I am now Neal Caffrey, international art thief and forger. I am not Dick Grayson, former Robin, Nightwing, cop, and son of Bruce Wayne. Neal Caffrey is not an alias, he is who I became when I left Dick Grayson in paris.   
“So if you aren’t Richard Grayson, and you don’t have an alias for Richard Grayson, why does Damian Wayne think that you’re him?” Diana asks   
“You’ll have to ask Damian, because I can’t tell you what Damian thinks, or why.”   
“Then why are you still so shaken up, your not acting like yourself, your day drinking, your not smiling, or trying to con anyone, and you’re wearing sweatpants. All things that I haven’t seen you do since kate died.” Jones pointed out, much to my disappointment, I was hoping they were just gonna let that go for now. Guess not.   
“Yeah, your right, I don’t know why i’m so shaken up, that kid is scary.” truth Damian is scary.   
“That’s not it and you know it Neal, if you were just a little shaken up by a kid yelling at you, that would be understandable, but what happened back there completely threw you off your game. Which again, I haven’t seen since Kate died, so stop evading our questions, and tell us the truth. Do you know Damian Wayne?” it seems Peter was done playing around.  
“Yes, I used to know him” truth   
“How did you two meet?”   
“Through a mutual acquaintance.” truth we both met because we both know B   
“What was your relationship to him?”   
“Relationship? Peter, you know i’m straight, right?” I quipped   
He growled “Neal, i’m not in the mood to deal with your humor tonight”   
‘Hey!’ I thought, affronted. ‘At least I still have humor, unlike most of the other people in my previous profession.’   
I was saved from answering his question by Mozzie, as he burst through the door muttering about something under his breath. “What are you doing here Moz?” I questioned, not that I was ungrateful for the interruption, but I would like to know why he was here on a monday night, with a bottle of wine under his arm. “I was supposed to be having dinner with the lady suit, but she had forgotten that she was supposed to go on a date night with the suit this evening.” he stated with a pointed look at Peter, who was sitting on my couch with an alarmed look on his face. “I can’t believe I forgot! I’ve got to get home.”   
he said as he got up from the couch and looked around for his suit jacket, which he had shed sometime during my interrogation “this is not over Neal, we are going to talk about this later.” he said as he dashed out my front door.  
I sighed, relieved that I had time to come up with a reasonable answer for the relationship between me and Dami. I couldn’t very well just tell them that he was my baby brother. Because even though i’m not Dick Grayson anymore, he wasn’t asking about who I am now, he was asking what my relationship to him used to be, which would be that we were brothers. But that would give away everything, I can’t believe that I actually thought that I could get away from an interrogation with peter unscathed.   
“Neal!”   
“Hmm”   
“I was asking if you wanted to have dinner with me, since my plans for the night have been cancelled”   
“Yeah, sure Moz, i’ll cook.”  
“Great, I brought the wine”  
“Where are Jones and Diana?”   
“They just left, Jones said he had some paperwork at the office to complete, and Diana had to get home for dinner with her girlfriend. Neal are you okay?” Mozzie asked with a concerned look on his face.  
I really need to stop spacing out. “Yeah Moz i’m fine, just tired”   
The rest of the night actually went well, especially in comparison to my shitty day.  
Me and Moz had dinner, then he decided to tell me about a new theory he had about the moon landing being faked. It was thrilling, note my sarcasm, but entertaining all the same. I might not always understand, or be interested in what Mozzie is telling me about, but it’s never boring to listen to Mozzie speak, he gets really excited and then he kinda sounds like Timmy when he is hyped up on coffee. Not that he sounds like Timmy, voice wise, but the excitement and enthusiasm in which he speaks reminds me of Timmy with his coffee induced chatter.   
After Mozzie left I tried to go to bed, like almost every other night, I was woken up by nightmares. I might not be a vigilante anymore, but the things that I saw, the things that I went through, will always haunt my dreams.  
I will never be able to forget Jason dying, or Timmy being tortured by the joker, or the fear that rushed through my body every time one of them was injured. I will never be able to forget them, even though they forgot about me.


	7. chapter 7

The next day as I got ready for work, I could feel dread pooling low in my stomach. I didn’t know what would happen today, but I knew it wasn’t going to be good.  
Peter showed up at the same time he usually does, as I got in the car I decided to pray to the traffic gods again, it didn’t work last time, but maybe i’ll get lucky. I really don’t want to be in a confined space with Peter for too long, knowing him though, he is going to use what little time he has me trapped to question me again.   
“So Neal, El wants to know if you’ll come over for dinner tonight?”   
‘I know this is a trap, but I don’t have a plausible excuse’   
“I’d love to Peter, but me and Moz-” he cut me off  
“Mozzie was invited too, but he already said he has plans elsewhere, no excuses Neal”   
“I was going to say, before you rudely interrupted me, that me and Moz would love to come, but sadly he has plans, so you will only be graced with my presence for the evening.”   
He shot me a dark look, not as dark as bruce, mind you. But dark in it’s own right, he knew that wasn’t what I was going to say, but he can’t prove that.   
I let out a sigh when I saw the FBI building, because while I knew that I hadn’t escaped for good, because I was going to Peter’s house tonight, I also knew that I had escaped for now.   
When we got to the white collar floor, I turned to ask Peter if we had any interesting cases today, but with his apparent mind reading abilities, he pointed me to my desk before I got the chance to ask. I deflated when I saw all the boring cases waiting for me on my desk, mostly mortgage fraud.  
With a sigh I sat down and got to work, finishing one after the other until I was FINALLY allowed to take my lunch break. On my way out the door I was stopped by Jones and Diana, “Peter said we should all have lunch together today, team building or something.” said Jones  
‘yeah, or something, it seems Peter doesn’t want me out of his sight.’  
“Hey Neal, ready for lunch.” Peter asks from behind me   
“Only if your buying” I say with a cheeky grin, he rolled his eyes at me. Guess that’s a no.  
Peter did end up buying us lunch, but only because we ganged up on him, arguing that if this was team building, that it was only fair that we didn’t have to pay, it was for work.   
When we were on our way back from lunch I ducked into an alleyway to throw my cup away, when suddenly I was shoved against the wall by an angry looking man. I was just about to throw him off me, when I recognised the brown leather jacket “Jason?”   
I asked with a confused look on my face, what was he doing here?  
“I thought the little demon might’ve been lying, but here you are, happy,” he scoffed   
“Jay-” he cut me off   
“Don’t, don’t try to make excuses, you left.” he turned to walk away, only to find the alleyway blocked by three figures,   
“Who are you? how do you know Neal?” Peter asked.  
Jason let out a humorless chuckle “me? I’m nobody, and I don’t know him.”  
“not anymore” he added under his breath, so low that I could just barely make it out.   
“Jay, wait!” I called a little panicked, as he made his way to the mouth of the alley, brushing between Jones and Diana. He didn’t stop, didn’t turn around, didn’t even slow.  
I don’t know what I would’ve said if he did, but I didn’t want him to leave, I don’t know why. It was pretty obvious that he didn’t care, he said it himself, he just wanted to know if Damian was lying.  
Even though I dreaded my old family showing up, I couldn’t wait to see them again, I know it’s pathetic, but I never stopped missing them, never stopped being hurt that they rejected me, never stopped being worried about them. Because no matter how many times they rejected me, I couldn’t stop that part of my heart that ached whenever I thought about any of them being hurt, or dead.   
I picked my head up from where it was resting against my chest to see the three of them standing in a half circle around me. They seemed to be internally debating what to do. I decided for them, I slowly walked myself out of the alley and started on my way back to the office. They started trailing behind me, talking in hushed whispers. I ignored them. Intent on not talking about this, besides, we took yesterday off, we have to go back to work today. And Peter will have the chance to interrogate me tonight at dinner, where I can’t escape. Yay.


	8. chapter 8

Jason POV

I decided to do recon on the golden boy like Damian had suggested, not because I wanted to wait to find out why he left, but because even though I was reckless, I now at least try to go into situations knowing what to expect.  
I went back to one of my many safe houses and opened my laptop to try and find his address, which didn’t end up being that difficult, mostly because Damian had sent it to me sometime after I ditched him at the hotel.   
I decided to take the rooftops to get to his apartment, it was already getting dark and I didn’t want to have to fill up the tank on my motorcycle.   
By the time I got to the rooftop across from Dick’s apartment he was already home from work. He was sitting on a chair in his apartment with three other people across from him on the couch. Two men and a woman. They all had serious looks on their faces, except Dick who just looked extremely uncomfortable, like he really didn’t want to be there.   
I was trying to hear what they were saying but they were too far away and my tech hasn’t been updated in over a year. The replacement keeps telling me that I should let him do it, no thanks, I don’t need them putting a tracker or some shit into my helmet.   
I was pulled out of my thoughts by movement from the apartment, I was instantly on defence. I relaxed shortly after, it was only a short man with a bottle of wine. When the short man started talking one of the men on the couch shot up and collected his things on the way out the door.  
Guess he didn’t like what the little man had to say, the other man and the woman got up shortly afterward and left the apartment also. The whole time this was happening Dick was just sitting in his chair with a far away look in his eyes.   
The short man said something to snap him out of whatever daze he was in, and he soon made his way to the kitchen, presumably to make dinner.   
After they had dinner I assumed the little man would leave, he didn’t. They just moved to the couch with the bottle of wine, chatting away like the gossip queens of gotham academy.   
After two long hours of that the little man finally left, Dick, with a smile still on his face, went to bed.   
Then I left too, this was a huge waste of time, he did nothing interesting, he didn’t go do anything illegal, he didn’t go do anything fun. He just had dinner with his friend and went to bed, hopefully I have more luck tomorrow. 

Timeskip to the next morning

After a night of patrol I found myself back at Dick’s apartment. While I was waiting for him to leave for work, I drifted into my thoughts.   
What happened that made him leave and never look back?   
I don’t like my family, but I was worried when he didn’t come back. I understand the need to escape for a while, and that’s what I thought he was doing, but then he ditched his phone and disappeared. And we looked everywhere, and I helped. Because Dick was the glue that held us together, he was the sunshine. And it annoyed the shit out of me. Who the fuck is that goddamn happy all the time?   
But I missed him when he was gone, because even though he annoyed the shit out of me, he was the first person to understand, and he was the first person to forgive. He was always the one who tried to make everything better, who tried to make everyone get along. That is why he was the glue.   
Now we are held together by string and duct tape.  
I was snapped out of my sadder-by-the-minute thoughts by Dick getting in a car.   
I followed the car on my motorcycle, a few minutes later the car pulled up to the FBI building, so I made my way up to the rooftop of the building across the street. When I got there I laid down so no one could see me, almost as if I was setting up to snipe someone. I got bored after a couple minutes, he wasn’t doing anything interesting. He just sat at his desk doing paperwork. Is this seriously what he left us for? A boring desk job and an apartment in New York?   
It went on like this until lunch time, when Dick got on the elevators I made my way down to the street, I arrived at ground level at the same time as Dick was coming out of the FBI building. He was with the three people from last night, they were all laughing and joking around, friends then. I tailed them to a food truck a couple blocks away from the FBI building, they got their food and sat down at a table in a park. When they were finished eating they started their walk back, Dick ducked into an alleyway right in front of me. On impulse, I followed him in, and as he threw his cup away, I slammed him into the wall, guess i’m angrier than I thought, he was about to try and throw me off of him when he recognised me and stopped his movement.  
“I thought the little demon might’ve been lying, but here you are, happy.” I scoffed. I knew Damian wasn’t lying about him being here, but I wanted to think that he wasn’t really this happy without us. We were all just a little duller without him around, just a little less happy. Even when we were happy, it wasn’t the same. That obviously doesn’t apply to him.   
“Jay-”   
“Don’t, don’t try to make excuses, you left” I stated with venom in my voice, he really is happy. He left us broken, and now here he is having lunch with his normal friends, on his lunch break from his normal job, while I know for a fact that the rest of our family is working to fix Gotham, to fix our home, and our spare time is still spent trying to find him. And he left, to be a thief, and then to be normal.   
I turned to leave the alley but three figures are blocking my way, his friends.   
“Who are you? How do you know Neal?” the older man demanded.   
I chuckled with no actual happiness “Me? I’m nobody, and I don’t know him”  
“not anymore” I added under my breath  
“Jay, wait!” he called  
I didn’t turn around, I just walked away.   
We found the golden boy. But he never wanted to be found.  
I had always hoped deep down, that he didn’t want to leave, that somehow he had to leave, that he was forced to leave. And I know that might make me a horrible person, to wish that my brother would have to leave our home by force, but it was better than the alternative. The alternative being that he left on his own, just disappeared one day, without a word to anyone. And now here he is, living in New York, with a job and friends.   
And that’s what hurts, the fact that we weren’t enough for him, so he left and made a new family.   
Well, fuck him. I don’t need him either.


	9. chapter 9

Peter dropped me off at home after work today, with nothing but a concerned look, and a promise that I would show up to dinner tonight. With that finally over with, I trudged up the stairs to my apartment, intent on a hot shower, and a glass of wine before I subjected myself to interrogation later tonight.  
If nothing else I would be comfortable before my inevitable demise at the hands of Elizabeth Burke, best interrogation officer the Burke household has to offer. I choose not to lie to Peter, it wasn’t so much of a choice with El, she was so nice and she honestly cared about what I was saying, that it made it next to impossible to lie to her.  
It would be like lying to Alfred and getting away with it, it just wasn’t going to happen.   
I finally reached my destination, my apartment, but when I went to unlock the door I realised that it was already unlocked.  
It’s probably just Moz, I reasoned with myself, this has happened plenty of times before. It wasn’t Mozzie, I entered my apartment to find Damian looking through the books on my bookshelf, he was probably trying to figure out where I hid my stuff, he wouldn’t, probably. “Where is everything… sentimental?” he asked “I know you must have something, you’re, well, you’re you.”   
“No i’m not” I said   
“No you’re not what?”   
“No, i’m not me, i’m not the person you used to know, you don’t know me, you don’t know anything about me.” I snapped, did he actually think that I was the same person as I was eight years ago? I know he isn’t, I wouldn’t expect him to be, it’s been eight years. He was only 13 the last time I saw him.   
“Do you really hate us that much? That you don’t want anything to remind you of the people you abandoned? The family you left behind? Me?” the last part was said so softly I don’t think I was meant to hear it, I don’t even think he meant to say it. The anger that had been flowing hot through my body drained away.   
I’m suddenly overcome with the urge to run over and wrap him up in my arms like I used to. He would always fight me when I tried to hug him, except sometimes, when he thought no one was paying attention, and he would snuggle just a little closer, hold on just a little tighter. That’s how I knew, that deep down, he was still just a child who craved attention, and love, something he was never given when growing up. I am, and always have been a very tactile person and I miss being able to hug my family.   
“Grayson!” he snapped me out of my memories.  
“What?” I asked, confused, I hope he hadn’t been talking to me while I was off in lala land.   
“Nevermind, it doesn’t matter.” he said right before he turned around and flipped off of my balcony.   
“But it does.” I whisper into the darkness.  
Blinking away the tears that had formed during our meeting, I turned around to go take a shower, but my eyes slid to where I knew my best memories lay. I made my way to my bookcase, where Damian had been standing moments before.  
Then I went around to the side of the bookshelf, and using my weight I pushed it a couple of inches from the wall and reached behind it to where I knew the little cupboard was, when I opened the small door I reached my hand inside and slid out an old faded envelope.  
When I had my prize clutched in my now shaking hand, I went and sat on my bed. Psyching myself up to look at these had always taken me a bit, the emotions that flooded through my mind when I saw those images, was overwhelming to say the least.   
When I had the small stack of pictures clutched gently in my hand I put the envelope down beside me and looked down.  
The first picture was of me and Bruce inside his study one night, I think Alfred took the picture, I was sitting in B’s lap with his arms wrapped around me holding a book that he had been reading. We were both asleep, it had been a trying few days in the manor, the Joker had escaped the night before and we were both injured, I remember asking him to read to me, because I was afraid to go to bed, and I was afraid to tell him I was afraid. Thinking back on that night, I think he knew that I was scared to go to bed, he had conceded so quickly to reading me a bedtime story.   
The next picture is of Bruce, Jason and me, it was before Jason had died, and we were all outside, I think I had been trying to teach Jason how to do a backhandspring. We looked so happy.   
The next one is all of us, me, Bruce, Jason, Tim, Damian, and Alfred. We were getting ready to go to some charity event that B was hosting, Jason was sulking with a foot propped against the wall he was leaning against, Timmy was trying to get his tie on properly, and for the most part failing, I was hanging upside down from some unseen object with a look of pure boredom across my face, Damian was just sitting aggressively on the couch, B was looking at all of us with exasperated affection, and Alfred looked ready to kill us all.  
I remember that night, we were already an hour late for Bruce’s charity event that he was supposed to be hosting, I don’t even remember why Jay was there, everyone thought he was dead, so it’s not like he could attend. Damian had been pissed because B had him grounded from patrol for a week because he had punched a teacher in the face. Timmy had been trying to get his tie straight for quite a while, and I didn’t even think tell him that he had it right the first time. B had just finished getting dressed and came in to see how we were doing, we were failing. And Alfred was not happy that we had decided to hide down in the shadows of the batcave until 40 minutes after the guests had arrived. 20 minutes later that picture was taken. I have no idea who took the picture, but I found it one day in the study, I had a copy made and put the original back in its place on his desk.   
The last picture is of me and Damian. I had been lounging on the couch when Damian had come in muttering about not being allowed to kill civilians, me being me, I had shot up and grabbed him into a bone-crushing hug and then promptly fell back down on the couch with him trapped in between me and the side of the couch, in the picture i’m very obviously laughing at Dami who looked even more ready to kill someone than when he had walked in. Tim had taken the picture, he gave it to me the next day with a smirk, and told me to use it for leverage against the demon when he told people he didn’t love us. It was proof, irrefutable proof, that Damian loved me. Because while yes, he looked ready to kill someone, the love is in the fact that he didn’t actually try to kill me.   
With a sad smile, I slid the pictures back into the envelope, put them back in their hidey hole, pushed the cabinet back against the wall and went to take my shower.   
The reason I could only ever stand taking the pictures out occasionally, was the fact that they stopped caring, they stopped being there for me. They didn’t call.   
And I didn’t know where I went wrong, what I ever did to make that happen. We had been a relatively happy family, though somewhat broken and battered. We loved each other.   
Those pictures made me think of exactly that, the fact that we had been a family, and I don’t know what happened to make that change. But I knew it must have been me, because if it wasn’t me, then what was it?


	10. chapter 10

When I arrived at the Burke household I was welcomed in by Elizabeth. I handed her the bottle of wine I had been clutching in my hand. By the time the table was set and we were all sitting down I was a bundle of nerves.  
I didn’t want to tell them who I used to be. I wanted to live in my happy little bubble forever. I didn’t want to bring the tragedy and the nightmares of my past life to the front door of the people who accepted me for who I am, even after knowing what I do, that I steal, and I forge, and I con people.  
They still accepted me after I went to prison. They accepted me when I was a fucking wreck after Kate died. They not only accept me, but they treat me like a part of their family.   
And yet I also feel like i’m betraying my old family, because I found a new family, even though they stopped giving a shit about me, even though they didn’t call, even though they hurt me more than anyone else in my life ever has. They were my family, my people, my entire life revolved around them, for 10 years.  
And then I couldn’t take it anymore, the constant feeling of not belonging anymore, it was overwhelming me, and I knew that if I didn’t get away for a little while, I would eventually break.  
But then I didn’t come back. I did plan on coming back, but then they didn’t call. And so I left for good, and I didn’t think they would care, but now I don’t know. They way that hurt flashed in Jason’s eyes when he told me that I left, the pain reflected in Damian’s eyes as he yelled at me that day in the office. The emotions that I saw in my brothers eyes conflicted with the thought that they didn’t care.   
“NEAL” Peter yelled, startling me. I really have to stop spacing out.   
“Yes Peter?” I asked innocently   
“What’s going on with you neal? Ever since Damian Wayne showed up you’ve been spacing out, a lot”   
“Nothing Peter, I’m just thinking, there’s a lot on my mind lately” truth  
“Neal, honey, i’m worried about you. I think you might feel better if you just talked about it, tell us what’s going on.” Elizabeth said with concern etched into her features.  
“Nothing El, i’m fine.”  
“No, Neal you’re not fine, you have been spacing out and I can tell that you’re worried about something, just talk to us, we can help you”   
“No, you really can’t. You guys can’t help me with what’s happening. This has nothing to do with the FBI, this isn’t a con gone wrong, this isn’t something that you can fix. I don’t think this is something anyone can fix. And it’s not a danger to you or El, or anyone but me, this isn’t going to create backlash for you or Jones or Diana. The only person this can blow up on, is me. So just let me deal with it.”  
“How do you know Neal? You haven’t told us what’s happening, you haven’t given us anything other than the fact that you used to know Damian Wayne, and now you are spacing out, and drinking, and guys in leather jackets, who claim not to know you, are shoving you up against walls, and you are worried about something. You have to know by now that this is not me being worried about us getting hurt, we are worried about you Neal because somewhere along the line, you became more than just a CI, you are a part of this family, you are my best friend, whether you like it or not. So please, Neal, tell us what’s going on. We’re worried about you, we all are.”  
Peter had started off angry, but by the end he just sounded desperate.   
How was I supposed to respond to that?   
“I was close to the, uh, I was close to the Wayne family, for a long time. And then something, um, something happened, and I, I left. And I didn’t tell anyone I was leaving, because I didn’t think that they would ,uh, that they would look for me. But now that Damian found me, i’m starting to rethink that, because he was hurting, and if they really didn’t care about me, why would he be hurting?” truth  
By the time I was finished speaking, both me and Peter had sat back down. He was staring at me with this look in his eye, like he wasn’t sure if I was really telling him the truth. And then he spoke up.   
“Neal, that still doesn’t explain why he thinks you’re Richard Grayson.”   
Shit, shit, shit, fuck. How am I supposed to explain that. I don’t want them to know I used to be Richard Grayson.   
“I’m not Richard Grayson” I said with as much conviction as I could muster, and it wasn’t a lie, but I didn’t want Peter to go digging into Richard Grayson.  
He looked like he wanted to say something, but El put a hand on his arm “I think Neal has been through enough tonight hon.” she said kindly   
Peter again looked like he wanted to say something, but then he looked up at me and must have seen the slightly desperate expression I knew was on my face. He thankfully didn’t press any further.   
After that we finished dinner in uneasy silence, afterwards I thanked Elizabeth for the meal and said my goodnights.   
When I got back to my apartment I shed my clothes and collapsed face first into my bed, I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.


	11. chapter 11

Gotham city 8 years ago

By the time they realised he had cut contact he was long gone. One thing you should know about the batfamily, is that when something happens to one of them, they close ranks. Red Robin left the Teen Titans in the hands of wonder girl, Batman disappeared from the watchtower, Red Hood suddenly wasn’t on the streets anymore, and Damian left his classroom without a word to anyone. They had all gone to the Manor to try and track him down.   
They knew he had been in Paris when he ditched his phone, but they couldn’t find a trace of him anywhere.   
Damian was getting angrier and angrier the longer they couldn’t find him. They were all frustrated, but Damian was taking it the hardest. Dick was his mentor and his older brother, he was there for him when his father wasn’t. Dick and Damian had a bond similar to that of a child and his father. It’s safe to say that Damian wasn’t taking it well and one particular day he snapped and lashed out at Bruce.   
“This is your fault! You’re the one who told us to leave him alone, and now he’s gone!” he had yelled at his father when Bruce had said that it wasn’t anyone’s fault that he was gone.   
Bruce just glared at him, not giving him the satisfaction of a response   
“We knew something was wrong with him, and you told us to let him go, to leave him alone.”  
“I didn’t know what to do Damian, he wasn’t acting like himself, he wasn’t happy. I thought that he needed some time away from us, I thought that maybe he was overwhelmed, I thought that if we all pulled back a little and gave him his space that he would come back when he was ready.”   
“You were wrong! We left him alone on your orders and now he’s disappeared!”   
After that Damian stormed up to his room and refused to talk to anyone for three days, he missed his brother, and he blamed his father.   
They had already ruled out the fact that he was taken, they knew that he left Paris a free man, they had him on tape, entering the airport by himself and disappearing into the crowd. There were no plane tickets for Richard Grayson purchased in that airport, so they knew he hadn’t been planning on returning home. They had been keeping track of him while he was in Paris. They had been worried about him when he left Gotham, but Bruce had said to give him his space, to leave him alone, and let him come back when he was ready. By the time he had been gone a couple months Damian had decided to call him against his father’s orders, he wanted to hear his voice, make sure he was really okay. So he called with some dumb excuse about if he took something from Damian’s room. He was relieved to hear his older brothers voice.   
It was about a month after Damian made that phone call that Dick disappeared.  
After he had been gone for about a week with no clues as to where he was, his brothers started to cope the only way they knew how, they would go on patrol, and they would pick fights with criminals and they would pick fights with each other, they would get into fist fights over the most mundane things just so that they could let their frustration out. And they were frustrated, they couldn’t find anything, he had disappeared without a trace.   
After Damian had yelled at his father about it being his fault that Dick had disappeared, Bruce had spiralled further. He started working all hours of the day and night, sleeping in 2 hour intervals, he constantly had dark circles under his eyes. He went out on patrol, but he was reckless, he kept getting himself injured. That was around the same time that he started to pull away from his other sons, he would only talk to them to ask whether they had a lead or not.  
He was barely around, and when he was it was only for a few minutes before he disappeared again on the hunt for his missing son. He was almost killed by various criminals, and he didn’t even seem to take notice.  
They would patch him up and he would be on his way again. It went on like this for months. He was going to die if they didn’t stop fighting long enough to intervene, so they formed a temporary truce, and stopped him the only way they knew how, capture, and interrogation. They waited for him to go up to his room to sleep, which was a rare thing lately, he had been sleeping in the batcave.  
When he went up to his room they all entered behind him and locked the door behind them. When he tried to leave they all blocked the door. It went on like this for a week, Alfred would bring them food, and they would wait for Bruce to talk. Every day for a week, he just glared and slept and paced.  
He constantly tried to break out of his room while they weren’t looking, but they were good, they ate and slept in shifts. There were always two people awake and with free hands to stop him when he tried to leave. After a week of this he finally spoke to them, “I need to find him” he blurted out, desperation laced throughout his words.  
“No B what you need to do is start taking care of yourself, and stop pushing us away” Tim said  
“If you get yourself killed trying to find him, what does that help? If your dead, you can’t help anyone.”   
“You need to stop, and you need to let us help, we work better together than we do apart”   
“And we need to stop fighting each other, it isn’t working, and we’re all going to get ourselves, or each other, killed”  
After Bruce agreed to let them help, and they agreed to stop fighting each other at every turn, they all went down to the Batcave to start working on finding their missing member again.  
After a while though, Dick’s case went to the back burner. It had been over a year and they weren’t any closer to finding him than they were when he first disappeared. They still looked for him, wherever they went they always kept an eye out for their missing brother, and him for his missing son, but they never saw him.   
And over time, they became angry. He had left them, almost broke their family apart, and he never came back.  
Why weren’t they good enough for him?  
Why did he really leave?   
Was it something that they did?  
Was it because he didn’t want to be a part of their family?   
All of the hurt that Dick leaving had made, turned into anger, just a little more each year, and all of the good memories, all the light that he had left in their lives, soon faded into the background of all the anger, and the pain he left behind when he disappeared.


	12. chapter 12

I was standing on the steps of June’s house, waiting for Jones to pick me up for work. Silently hoping that we could skip all the interrogations for the day, I really wasn’t ready to divulge more information after last night. Seeing my brothers again, and then having to come up with non-lies about my past for Peter, it is emotionally draining, and I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up.   
I’m hoping that after what I told Peter and El last night, that they will be looking into previous friends of the Wayne family, and not looking too hard into Richard Grayson. Because I know for a fact that if they find enough on him, they will connect the dots between him, and me.   
I was also praying that I get no other surprise visits today.   
Jones then pulled up in his car, and as I buckled into the passenger seat, I looked up at his face, seeing as we weren’t moving. He looked guilty.   
“Peter told you guys didn’t he?” I figured he would, he didn’t like keeping things from Jones and Diana.   
“Yeah” he answered with a sheepish look on his face   
“It’s ok, I figured he would” I told him, I didn’t want him to feel guilty.   
“Yeah, it’s just, it feels like something you should have the right to choose whether or not to share with us, you know? We knew everything about you when we were chasing you, down to your shoe size. And we still keep track of you, but now it feels different, wrong somehow, that Peter told us that without your knowledge.” he said, obviously still feeling guilty.   
“Jones, it’s fine. I told Peter knowing full well that he would probably tell you and Diana, so don’t feel bad, it’s easier anyway, not having to repeat painful memories.”   
And that was the truth, if Peter hadn’t told them, I would have eventually. And it’s a lot easier to have Peter tell them, than to have to go through last night again, it was exhausting.  
“Don’t let Diana feel bad either” I told him.  
I didn’t want her to feel guilty either, they were both a part of my mismatched family, and they both deserved to know the truth, if and most likely, when, it comes out.   
“So, do we have any interesting cases waiting for us back at the office?” I asked as he pulled away from the curb  
“Um, Peter has a meeting with someone looking for a stolen painting” he told me   
“Anyone interesting?” I asked curiously, maybe we would get an interesting case to take my mind off the shit-storm that is my life right now.  
“I don’t know who it is yet, neither does Peter. Hughes is the only one who knows, says it’s someone who values privacy.”   
“Right, well then, hopefully they have something fun for us to find, I hate mortgage fraud” I stated with disdain   
Jones chuckled, knowing just how much I hated mortgage fraud cases, and I know he hates them almost as much as I do.  
Jones then parked the car and we made our way into the offices. I flashed my id badge at the security officer, still constantly surprised at how easy it would be to break in here. We made our way straight up the conference room when we got to our floor, Jones said that the man should already be in there with Peter and Diana.   
As we walked into the room I looked over at the screen on the wall, I was shocked to see one of my original paintings pulled up, I painted that when I was 16 because Bruce had been complaining that he couldn’t find a piece that he wanted in his New York office. As far as I know it should still be there, but then why is it on the screen in here?  
It dawned on me that the private person here about a missing painting, might be Bruce.  
I snapped my head around to the person sitting at the conference table, dreading who it might be, only to let out a sigh of relief upon seeing the blank face of Timmy staring back at me. I am not at all prepared to see B again, I don’t think i’ll ever truly be ready to see him again. I’m less terrified now that I know it’s Timmy.  
He no longer looked like the baby of our family, you can see how much he has matured in the angles of his face, all signs of the previously remaining baby fat gone. Or in the strain of his suit against his now broad shoulders. Or the way he has obviously perfected masking his emotions, when he used to be so easy to read. He had grown up, he wasn’t little Timmy anymore.   
I sucked in a breath to steady myself, Jones was looking at me curiously, and I didn’t want to have them question me again.   
It seems Timmy wasn’t here to confront me like my other two baby brothers were. He had seen me, and still, he had this stony, blank expression on his face. I think that I prefer the yelling, at least then I can tell what they are feeling, it makes them put their walls down far enough for me to see the hurt beyond the anger. But Tim is blank, I don’t know what he’s feeling.   
“Hello Neal” Peter says with a tight smile   
“This is Timothy Drake-Wayne” Diana says with an equally tight smile   
“Hey Timmy” I say in a hoarse voice  
I can see anger flash in his blue eyes, but it’s gone as quick as it came.   
He ignores me and and says a polite hello to Jones.  
“My father would appreciate it if the painting could be recovered unharmed, it is one of a kind and cannot be replaced.”   
“Of course, we will do our best to retrieve the painting unharmed. I do have a question though, do you know who might’ve taken it? As far as I know the painting doesn’t have any monetary value.” Peter asked   
“Not many people know what, um, sentimental value it has to my father, I will ask him to put together a list of anyone who might have taken it.”   
“Ok, if you can get that information to us as soon as possible, it would be very helpful in finding the painting. One last question, who painted this? The style seems familiar somehow” Diana asked.  
Tim looked up at me from his seat. “He did” he said with a hint of masked bitterness in his voice   
“Here is my card, if you have anymore questions, don’t hesitate to call me” he said, the polite tone back. He got up and left the room. He was gone a moment later. And I was left standing in the conference room with my heart aching, just like it was when Damian left me standing in the same spot two days ago.   
“You painted this Neal?” Diana asked   
“Um, yeah, a long time ago” I answered, my voice still rough, struggling to bring myself out of my shock.  
I blinked and suddenly I was standing in front of my desk with Jones beside me.   
“Peter said you should get started on some of that paperwork, there isn’t much we can do about finding the painting until we have that list from Timothy”   
“Tim” I corrected automatically   
“Huh?”   
“He prefers Tim” I said, still on autopilot, trying to bring myself back to the present. Trying not to get sucked into the black hole of emotions that kept pulling at me every single time I saw one of them again.  
He didn’t even acknowledge my presence until Diana asked who painted that picture.   
He didn’t care..  
And that threw my thoughts off balance again, because Damian and Jason had been so angry and hurt, and it practically radiated off of them. It made me rethink what I thought I knew. But Tim was so cold.  
And he must have known that I was going to be there, Damian would have told him. Wouldn’t have let him walk into something blind, he was already past his days of trying to kill Tim by the time I left.  
And Tim, he didn’t care, the only emotion he showed was the small flash of anger when I said hello.  
Now what am I supposed to think?   
Two of my brothers are angry and hurting, and the other is just a blank mask.  
And I don’t know what to think anymore, they are throwing me way off balance.   
And if them showing up is throwing me for this much of a loop, how the fuck am I supposed to be okay when B shows up?


	13. chapter 13

Tim’s POV

I almost didn’t make it out to my car with my composure intact. As soon as my door slammed behind me I let the mask drop, and the wall on my emotions crumble.   
Holy shit, they were right.   
Damian came to me after he had told Jason. He told me that he couldn’t go back in there, but that I had to, because Father still wanted that painting found. And the only way to not bring attention to us, at least until we figured out how to tell him, was to go on as normal. Which meant finding the picture.   
I thought I would be okay, but as soon as he looked at me with those bright blue eyes, I knew that I wasn’t okay.  
I just barely kept my mask in place, I wanted to jump out of my chair and hit him as hard as I could, and then I wanted to hug him and not let go.   
I was so angry, and when he said “Hey Timmy” like he hadn’t abandoned us years ago, like he hadn’t disappeared off the face of the fucking planet. I was so angry.   
I was close to snapping, but I didn’t. I used every ounce of self control in me. And I kept my composure.  
I had watched him the night before, I tailed him as he went to his handlers house.  
I had listened as he told them that the only person this could blow up on was him, as his handler told him that he was a part of their family, that he was his best friend.  
Guess that’s why he left, for a better, normal family.   
I heard him tell them that he used to be close to the Wayne family. Like he was just a family friend, like he wasn’t ever one of us, like he wasn’t the first, like he wasn’t our brother.   
And then he said that he didn’t think we would look for him.   
Why the fuck would he think that?  
I heard him say that he was confused because Damian was hurting.  
What are you confused about? He looked up to you, he loved you, you were his mentor, his big brother, and then you abandoned him. Of course he was hurting.  
And then I heard him say that he wasn’t Richard Grayson with so much conviction, that it felt like a physical blow.  
When he went back to his apartment that night, I left and went to go set up a meeting with Peter Burke. But I didn’t want him to know I was coming, I didn’t want Dick to know I was coming. I wanted to see his reaction when he saw me. I wanted to look him in the eyes when he saw my face.   
When Dick had snapped his head up to look as me, he let out a sigh of relief. Like he thought it was someone else, and was glad to see that it was only me. Yeah, just me, your little brother, who looked up to you for most of his life. Just me.   
I slammed my fists down on my steering wheel, confident that no one could see my outburst through the blackout windows.   
He really is happy here, he has a new family. He doesn’t need us anymore.   
We worried about him for years, never stopped worrying about him. Never stopped wondering.   
Is he ok?  
Is he even alive?   
Why did he leave us?  
Was he forced somehow?  
Does he miss us?   
Where is he?  
Is he trying to get back to us?  
All these questions swirling around my head when I laid down to go to sleep at night.  
And sleeping was even worse, I had these vivid nightmares. All of them about him being captured, or tortured, or brainwashed, or killed. And these horrible nightmares that i’ve had for years, were for nothing.   
Because we found him. And he’s happy. He’s normal. And he has a new family.   
I then picked my head up from where it rested against my steering wheel and buckled in. I decided to go pay Damian a visit. When I got to the hotel I went straight up to Damian’s floor and knocked on his door, I was surprised when Jason opened the door and let me in. I saw Damian on the couch with a laptop resting on his legs. I sat down next to him and looked over at what was on the screen. He was researching some of Neal Caffrey’s ‘alleged’ crimes. He let me look at his screen for a moment before closing it.   
“Did you get it done?” he asked in his normal clipped tone  
“Yeah, they will be looking for the painting. They need some details from Bruce but they should be able to find it.”   
“Did you see him?” Jason asked as he flopped into the loveseat across the coffee table from me and Damian.   
“Yeah” I answered   
“You see it too, don’t you? He’s happy here” Jason asked in a bitter tone  
“Yeah, he got himself a new family” I said with the same bitterness lacing my tone  
“How are we supposed to tell father?” Damian asked   
“We could always just call him up and say ‘hey B remember that son that went missing eight years ago? Yeah he’s fine, we found him here in New York, he’s got a new life and everything’” Jason said with forced humor   
“What?” I heard from behind us   
“Bruce?” I asked in a distinctly alarmed voice  
“Did you really find him?” he asked   
We were all now standing and facing him.  
“Yes” Jason stated  
Bruce made his way over to the couch and sat down.  
“Tell me everything you know” he commanded.   
“I stumbled across him, you had told me to get someone to find the painting that was stolen from your office. I did my research, I found out that the best person to go to for stolen art was this Neal Caffrey. He works with the FBI. Neal Caffrey is an Alias for Dick.   
He’s happy, father. He has a new family. He has friends, and a job. And he has denied being Richard Grayson many times. I found out 2 days ago. We were trying to determine the best way to tell you.” Damian said, immediately responding to the command in Bruce’s tone.   
Bruce now had his head in his hands.  
“How many of you have made contact?”   
“All of us” I answered  
“Have any of you broken his cover?”   
“No, he has maintained his cover” Damian said   
“How do you know?” I asked Damian. He hadn’t been there when I was there today, how did he know I hadn’t broken his cover?  
“I hacked the cameras in the FBI building” he answered my spoken question and my unspoken one.   
“Does anyone suspect anything?”   
“I believe his handler and two other agents are suspicious about his reactions to us showing up” Damian answered   
“Is he okay?”   
“More than okay” Jason answered bitterly  
Bruce nodded as he got up and went into the bedroom, locking the door behind him.   
I looked around at my brothers with a concerned look, which was reflected back at me on their faces.


	14. chapter 14

When the shock at seeing Tim had finally worn off it was already lunchtime. Peter came over to my desk and saw my stack of finished paperwork and shot me a questioning glance. I looked to my stack of finished paperwork and then back at Peter, finally catching on to what he was confused about. They didn’t know I used to be a cop, or that I used to work for batman, and while working in that type of setting, I became very good at filling out reports and paperwork, without actually paying any attention to the paperwork. It was efficient. But I didn’t do that here, I actually made it a point not to do it here, because why on earth would a white collar criminal know how to efficiently file and fill out that type of paperwork in a that type of setting?  
He wouldn’t, so what I do now is complain about how I don’t know how to fill things out or how to file things correctly, even though I can, and have done it while half asleep, or just not paying attention. So it always takes me forever to get my paperwork done. Peter is now confused about the fact that I have all of my paperwork done before lunch, when it usually takes me three painstaking days to get it done, and by that point, there is always more.   
“I really want to be done with paperwork” I say with a smirk on my face  
He shoots me one last suspicious look and tells me to meet them at the elevators for lunch. Peter has apparently decided that i’m not allowed to go to lunch on my own anymore. I meet them at the elevators and we make our way around the block to a pizza parlor for lunch.   
“Do you guys want to come to my place for dinner tonight, I miss being able to cook for a bunch of people.” I ask, not really thinking before I spoke   
“When did you cook for a bunch of people?” Diana asks me   
“Um, when I knew the Wayne’s, their butler used to let me help in the kitchen.”  
I admit, I really do miss helping Alfie in the kitchen.  
When their food arrived I realised that I wasn’t really all that hungry.  
“How’s your pizza Neal?” Jones asked, seeing as I wasn’t really eating it, just nibbling.  
“Whelming” I answered   
“What?” Diana asked, confused about my use of the word  
“Oh, it’s like, overwhelmed and underwhelmed, but why isn’t anyone ever just whelmed?”   
“Um, alright” she said, obviously still confused   
“So, does anyone wanna come for dinner tonight, El is invited too. And i’m gonna invite Moz.” I said, hoping they would be able to make it. I really did miss cooking for a bunch of people.   
“Yeah Christie is out of town the next few days”   
“I’m free” Jones said  
“I’ll have to ask El, but I don’t think we’re doing anything tonight.”   
“Come by around eight, I should have enough time to whip something up by then” 

Timeskip to around 8

I was currently on my way to my apartment. I was supposed to be about halfway done with dinner by now, but I forgot that I didn’t have what I needed in the kitchen, so I went to the store, and then I got held up at the store, the lines were horrifying.   
When I got to June’s I went inside only to find all of my guests waiting in the foyer with Moz.   
“Sorry guys, I got held up at the store. I thought dinner would be almost done by now.” I said   
“It’s ok Neal, I let them in, we were just about to head up to your apartment.” Mozzie said to me   
“Why didn’t you guys go up earlier, I left the door unlocked.” I asked him  
“The door wasn’t unlocked, and the suit was against me picking the lock, so we decided to wait for you down here.”   
“Oh, alright” the last time I thought I left my door locked and it was unlocked, Damian paid me a visit. Maybe I really did just forget I locked it…   
I handed Moz one of the bags I was holding and made my way up the stairs with everyone following me. I quickly dug my keys out of my pocket and unlocked my door, as I made my way inside I froze.   
Leaning against my bookshelf was a man, black hair, blue eyes, suit. Shit shit shit.   
I started to turn to run back down the stairs when I realised that my company was blocking my way, I couldn’t get past them, and I sure as shit wasn’t going to in there. I started to panic, I couldn’t escape, couldn’t run from my past. I turned again to face him, he was looking directly at me, I immediately lowered my gaze, not ready to face him just yet. My eyes caught on the pictures he was clutching in his hands, my pictures.   
I turned back around again only to realise that Peter had been calling my name this whole time.   
“Neal, who is that?” he asked, probably not for the first time.  
“That’s Bruce Wayne” El said from her spot beside Peter   
Peter slowly pushed me further into my apartment, closer to Bruce. Closer to my past. I didn’t know what to do, what could I do? I couldn’t run, couldn’t escape, I can’t get away.   
“What do you mean Bruce Wayne? The Bruce Wayne who secretly funds the capes?” Mozzie asked with a slight hint of panic in his voice   
“What Moz? Are you scared of Batman?” Jones asked teasingly   
“YES, you have to be stupid if you aren’t wary of the capes, they don’t take kindly to people like me and Neal. That’s the reason Neal and I never worked in or around Gotham, Right Neal?” Moz asked   
“Yeah” I answered absently. Well, partly true. I told Moz when we started working together that I wouldn’t work in Gotham because I wasn’t taking the chance of being caught by Batman and company.   
By the time I had finished answering Moz, Peter had pushed me far enough into my apartment so that everyone behind me could enter and close the door behind them. Cutting off all escape routes, except the balcony, but then I’d have to go past Bruce, and he would stop me way before I got there.   
I was just standing there, not moving, not speaking. Bruce was doing the same. Just standing there, I could feel his stare burning a hole into my head. I finally looked up when I heard Elizabeth speaking.   
“Hello Mr. Wayne, I’m Elizabeth Burke, and this is my husband Peter” she said politely.   
“Jones”  
“Diana”   
“Haversham”   
They all introduced themselves.  
What would happen if I lost all of them because of this?   
What if they never trust me again?   
What if they don’t want me around anymore?   
I don’t think I can make it through heartbreak like that again, the agonising pain of realising that your family, the people you love, don’t want you anymore, don’t need you anymore. I can’t go through that again. I won’t survive, I can’t do this again, I have to get away I can’t do this. I don’t want to do this. I could feel myself start to hyperventilate, but I couldn’t calm down enough to make myself stop.  
“Dick? Hey, listen to me, your fine. Your okay, I need you to breathe for me, ok? Can you do that?” Bruce said from right in front of me. When did that happen?   
One of his hands was cupping the back of my neck, and he was staring at me with blue eyes almost identical to mine. I slowly started to imitate his exaggerated breathing, feeling my heart rate start to slow down to a normal speed.  
He used to do this when I was younger, when I had nightmares and I couldn’t tell what was real and what wasn’t, when the nightmares were so bad I forgot to breathe. When I was so panicked that I would slip up and call him dad, when Bruce would stay there all night so that when I woke up not knowing where I was, I had something familiar to hang onto.   
When I finally had my breathing under control I slid down to sit on the floor, Bruce went down with me, seeing as I was still clutching his lapels.   
I heard someone clearing their throat from behind us  
“So what exactly is your relation to Neal?” Peter asked hesitantly   
“He’s my son” Bruce answered, still looking at me.


	15. chapter 15

Bruce’s POV 

I was walking into Damians hotel room when I heard it.   
“We could always just call him up and say ‘hey B remember that son that went missing eight years ago? Yeah he’s fine, we found him here in New York, he’s got a new life and everything’” Jason said bitterly   
I almost doubled over in shock. Are they kidding? Did they really find him?   
“What?” I asked. Not even trying to mask my emotions.   
“Bruce?” Tim asked as he spun around to face me.   
“Did you really find him?” I asked, needing to know.  
“Yes” Jason answered. Relief flooded through my body. They found him.   
“Tell me everything you know” I demanded, needing to know that he was alright.   
“I stumbled across him, you had told me to get someone to find the painting that was stolen from your office. I did my research, I found out that the best person to go to for stolen art was this Neal Caffrey. He works with the FBI. Neal Caffrey is an Alias for Dick.   
He’s happy, father. He has a new family. He has friends, and a job. And he has denied being Richard Grayson many times. I found out 2 days ago. We were trying to determine the best way to tell you.” Damian said, responding to the command in my tone immediately.   
He’s alright, is the first thing that registers in my mind. After I process that my son is alive, something i’ve been wondering about for eight years. All the other things that Damian said register in my brain.   
He’s happy. He has a job, and friends. He has denied being Richard Grayson.   
That still leaves the question. Why did he leave? Was it for a new family? Why weren’t we enough for him? Why did he leave? That seems to be the recurring question. For years i’ve wondered, knowing that I might never get an answer. Why?   
I snap myself out of my thoughts, just now remembering that i’m not alone. I need facts. I’ll deal with my emotional problems later. I need facts right now.   
“How many of you have made contact?” I ask  
“All of us” Tim said, a little hesitantly.   
“Have any of you broken his cover?”   
“No, he has maintained his cover” Damian says  
“How do you know?” Tim asks Damian  
“I hacked the cameras in the FBI building” Damian says. Of course he did.  
“Does anyone suspect anything?” I asked   
“I believe his handler and two other agents are suspicious about his reactions to us showing up” Damian said sounding unconcerned.   
“Is he okay?” I asked, letting the pain of the last eight years seep into my voice.   
“More than okay” Jason answered bitterly. I nodded my head, letting them know that I was done questioning, and then I got up and went into the bedroom, where I could hopefully make sense of this in my head.   
I don’t blame any of them for becoming bitter. Dick left, and it hurt all of us. And we didn’t understand why he left, still don’t. But where my sons became angry and bitter towards him for leaving, I could never let go of the pain and the worry, that completely overtook my body whenever I thought of my missing son. And yes, I had my moments where I was so goddamn angry that I wanted to punch someone, but I always came full circle. Back to the pain and worry and absolute dread, that my kid might be dead. So I understand that it was easier for them to hold onto the hurt and the anger that they were feeling, because the pain and worry was harder, so much harder than the anger.   
By the time he was gone for a couple months, I was able to feel my family start to fall apart around me, and I knew I wasn’t helping, pushing them away. Alfred thought of Dick as his grandson, like he does the other boys. And he helped me raise them, from when they were children who just needed someone to care, until they became the people they are today. I could feel Damian’s anger, all the time, I knew that he was using it to cover the hurt that Dick leaving had caused, but I didn’t know how to help him either. Jason was devastated, and covered it up with sarcasm and jokes, but he was hurting too. Tim didn’t know what to do, he was just slowly closing himself off from everyone. And I didn’t know how to help my kids, I didn’t know how to help myself. So I pushed, and I pushed, and then they pushed back. And I have never been more grateful that I taught my boys to never give in, to never be pushed around, even by me. Because they saved us, they pulled us back together, and I don’t know where we would be if they didn’t.   
I was pulled out of my memories by my phone dinging, it was Damian. He sent me everything he had on Neal Caffrey.  
I started to scroll through it, I saw how his handlers closure rates spiked when he took Dick on as a CI, I saw his co-workers letters, stating that he was an asset to the team, and they were glad to have him there. I read through all of his alleged crimes. I looked through his anklet data, and saw how much time he spent at his handlers house. He really does have a life here.   
When I finished reading through everything I stood up, only to realise that I had been sitting on the floor a lot longer than I thought, I looked out to window to see it was starting to get dark. I looked down at my watch surprised to see that it was around 7.  
Dick should be home from work by now. I was going to go see my son.   
As I walked out of the bedroom I saw the boys eating takeout in the kitchen, I slipped out the door without disturbing them.   
As I pulled up outside his apartment, I took a deep breath to steady myself. I knocked on the door but no one answered so I let myself in, I remember seeing somewhere that he was in an apartment on the top floor, so I silently make my way up the stairs, when I reached the top I knocked on his door, no answer. I quickly picked the lock and let myself in. It was clean, that was the most surprising thing, Dick hated cleaning his room. I started looking around, deciding to wait for him to come home. I saw an unfinished painting on an easel in one corner, a fully stocked wine rack in the kitchen, a closet full of expensive suits. He had no pictures, anywhere. That’s a good place to start, pictures. Where would he hide pictures. I started looking around for places to hide things, I found one with 2 passports and some money in it, not what I was looking for, so I closed it up and moved on. I was looking over by his couch when I saw the dust on the floor was moved right in front of his bookcase, like someone slid it away from the wall. Interesting. I walked over and using my weight I pushed it away from the wall far enough to look behind it, bingo. A little hidden cubby, I reached my hand inside and pulled out a faded envelope. I turned and leaned against the bookshelf as I pulled the pictures out.   
The first was one that I have a copy of on my desk. It’s me and Dick asleep in one of the chairs in my study, we had both fallen asleep while I was reading to him. He had been scared to go to bed, we had just gotten the Joker back to the asylum, and Dick had been having nightmares all week. He asked me to read to him before he went to bed, I had immediately said yes, knowing he was scared to tell me he didn’t want to go to bed. And honestly, I didn’t want to bed either, I knew there would be nightmares.   
The next is from before Jason died, we were playing outside one day and Dick had been trying to teach Jason how to do a backhandspring, Jason almost broke his wrist, but overall it was a great day.   
I was about to flip to the next picture when I heard the door being unlocked, I looked up as Dick opened the door. He started to walk in, but then he saw me, and he immediately looked down, seeing the pictures in my hand, and then turned to go back down the stairs, but he was blocked by a stairway full of people.   
He looked back in the apartment, and then back to the stairs. No escape. I was standing there, waiting for him to do something. The person directly behind him started calling his name, getting louder when he didn’t answer. He then asked who I was, and Dick seemed to snap out of it, looking up at him, then the woman beside him spoke up.   
“That’s Bruce Wayne” she said  
A short man from the back pushed his way to the front, but they all stayed behind Dick.   
“What do you mean Bruce Wayne? The Bruce Wayne who secretly funds the capes?” the short man asked with panic lacing his voice  
“What Moz? Are you scared of Batman?” one of the other men asked in a teasing way  
“YES, you have to be stupid if you aren’t wary of the capes, they don’t take kindly to people like me and Neal. That’s the reason Neal and I never worked in or around Gotham, Right Neal?” the short man answered  
“Yeah” he answered absently. It was like he wasn’t here anymore, like he had taken off inside his head.   
By the time that little conversation had taken place, the person behind Dick had slowly pushed him bit by bit into the apartment, he seemed to realise this as soon as the last person inside shut the door.   
The woman who had recognised me then came up to me and introduced herself.  
“Hello Mr. Wayne, I’m Elizabeth Burke, and this is my husband Peter” she said politely.   
“Jones”  
“Diana”   
“Haversham”   
They all introduced themselves in turn, the little man was lying about his name though.   
As this was happening Dick was looking more and more panicked, he was starting to hyperventilate. I gave him a minute, seeing if he would be able to calm himself down.   
He couldn’t. I swiftly walked over to stand in front of him, he was looking down at the floor still, so I grabbed the back of his neck and tilted his head so he was looking at me, he blinked up at me with glassy eyes that were slowly trying to focus.   
“Dick? Hey, listen to me, your fine. Your okay, I need you to breathe for me, ok? Can you do that?” I asked him, he seemed to recognise me. I started to exaggerate my breathing, hoping he would follow by example, like he used to. I was relieved when he started to breathe at a normal speed again. He was now gripping the lapels of my suit, holding on with a death grip. He started to slide to the floor, still not letting go of my suit, so I just went with him. We were both sitting on the floor, me just looking at him, making sure he wasn’t going to go into another panic attack, but he seemed to be getting himself under control.   
“So what exactly is your relation to Neal?” someone asked from behind us, I didn’t even bother to turn around to answer.   
“He’s my son” I told them, not caring that I just broke his cover.


	16. chapter 16

“Why, um, why are you here?” I asked him when I was confident I could speak without my voice breaking. Everyone else’s shock ended up working to my advantage, it gave me time to get myself under control. It is kind of ironic though, that the person who caused me to panic, was the same person who made me stop panicking.   
“Why did you leave?” he asks, his voice rough with emotion  
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOUR SON” Mozzie asked, apparently snapping out of his shock.   
“I mean, he is my son” B answered snarkily  
“Neal, I thought you said your dad was dead” Peter says hesitantly  
“He is” I say, knowing it won’t clarify anything.  
“I took him in as my ward when his parents died” Bruce said clarifying for Peter  
Bruce stood suddenly, startling me when he pulled me off the ground with him, he then led everyone over to the couches to sit down. I ended up on the couch with Peter, El, and Moz. Bruce was on the couch facing us with Jones and Diana. Nobody was really saying anything and the silence was starting to bother me.   
“We looked for you, you know. For years” he said suddenly  
“Tim said that you, uh, you thought we wouldn’t look for you. But we did, for a long time. Never thought to look to the FBI though.” he laughed at the end, but it wasn’t right. It was short and harsh.   
“I never expected to end up at the FBI” I said hoping to draw him from this line of questioning, I didn’t want to go there. Not with him, and not right now.  
“I don’t think any thief does” he said, emotionless. I couldn’t tell what he was feeling. Was he disappointed that I became a thief? Why do I care if he is?   
“I’m not disappointed in you Dick. I never thought you would become a thief, and i’m not exactly happy that you did, but you didn’t hurt anyone. And you didn’t steal from people who couldn’t afford it” he said.   
And suddenly I was angry, why do I need his approval? He is the one who rejected me. I shouldn’t still be seeking his approval, I shouldn’t still want to make him proud.   
“NO! I don’t need your approval, you are the one who didn’t want me anymore! I don’t need you, I don’t need you to tell me that what i’m doing is okay. I don’t... I don’t need this anymore” I had started angry and ranting, but by the time I was finished speaking, all the anger had melted away, and I was left tired.  
The whole time I was ranting at him, he just sat there with a blank mask on, letting me yell.   
“If you didn’t need it, you wouldn’t have left” he said softly.   
“That is why you left isn’t it? You thought we didn’t want you around? You thought I didn’t want you around?” he said in a knowing voice.   
I didn’t say anything, but he must have read the answer on my face.   
“I didn’t realise. I thought you wanted to get away for awhile, I told the boys to leave you alone. I thought you were overwhelmed, you weren’t acting like yourself. I didn’t realise that you wanted to know we cared. I didn’t know.” his words were infused with guilt, and pain.   
And that’s when I realised, I never told them how I was feeling, they really didn’t know.   
It makes sense now, the pain and hurt in their eyes when they looked at me. They thought I didn’t care. They all thought that I just left them. B told them to leave me alone, they were just following orders. And I left.   
I started laughing. It was either that, or crying.  
“I haven’t seen my family, for eight years, because we all suck at communicating?” I gasped out between my laughter. I looked up at B only to see him start to laugh.   
“Holy shit, My family is so fucked up” he said right before he started hysterically laughing too.   
When we finally had ourselves under control. I looked over and saw that everyone was still sitting on the couches, looking really confused. I had forgotten they were there.   
“Um, would you mind explaining, all of this?” Diana said from her spot on the couch.   
Me and B got ourselves off the floor and back onto the couches.   
“I guess i’ll have to start from the beginning” I said  
“That would be nice” Peter stated   
“Um, eight years ago I went by the name Richard Grayson. I was taken in by B when I was 8 years old, I was the first child he took in, after that it was Jason, then Tim, and Damian is his biological son. When I was 18 I went on a trip to Europe, for 4 months, and while I was there I received 1 phone call, it was from Damian wondering if I took something from his room. I was hurting, it felt like they didn’t want me around anymore, so I left. I made myself a new ID, hopped a plane to NYC, and the rest is history, you guys can’t find anything on me before I was 18, because I didn’t exist until I was 18.”   
“So you lied” Peter said, sounding hurt. “You told us that you aren’t Richard Grayson”  
“I’m not, Peter. I am Neal Caffrey. I left Richard Grayson behind in Europe. I have created a life around Neal Caffrey, for Neal Caffrey. It hasn’t been an alias for a long time” I was really hoping that they would understand, I don’t want to lose them.   
“So your not really 33?” Jones asked, they always thought I was lying about my age.  
“I’m 26” I answered with a smirk  
“Why?” Diana asked me. I looked over to see that Peter was still lost in thought.   
“No one takes an 18 year old kid seriously, everyone still views being 18 as a kid. The older I was, the easier it was to get into places.” I answered  
“And people bought that?” B asked, disbelief etched into his face  
“If anyone asked I just told them I looked young for my age” I answered  
“What are we supposed to call you?” El asked, speaking up for the first time since she introduced herself.   
“Neal Caffrey, it’s who I am” I answered, and it was the truth. I may have found my family again, but that doesn’t change the fact that I also have a family here in New York, as Neal Caffrey.


	17. chapter 17

Damian’s POV

We were about to go out and look for father when he finally came back. It was 10 o’clock, not late. But we were a little worried, and not without reason. The last time that something happened concerning Grayson, father spiraled, almost got himself killed, more than a few times.   
So when he walked in the door with a wall up behind his eyes, I wasn’t surprised.  
I was surprised that he wasn’t bruised, or drunk. I thought that would be a go-to after finding out that the son you thought ran away, and possibly died, was really just living the good life in NYC, with a new family and new friends.   
So when he just walked in and took a seat next to the three of us on the couch, I wanted to know what happened.   
“What happened father?” I asked   
“I went to see Dick” he answered, but not really answering my question.   
“And?” Jason asked, already sounding impatient.  
“And I know why he left” he said, still not telling us what we want to know.   
“Why?” Tim asked, urging him to get on with it.   
“He, uh, he thought we didn’t want him there, he thought we wouldn’t look for him. When I told you guys to leave him alone, because I thought he needed a break. I was wrong, he just wanted to know that we cared. That we wanted him around.” he answered.   
Of course I wanted him around, how could he think that I wouldn’t? He is my brother, my mentor. He taught me control, and how to laugh. He taught me that it was okay to love people, that it wasn’t a weakness to care. And while I would never express these emotions to my family, he still taught me that they were good emotions, not things to be trained out, and shunned. He taught me what it was like to have a family. He taught me what it was like to have someone care about me, for me. Not for the things that I might be able to do for them. Who cared when I was hurt, because I was hurting, not because I wasn’t useful when I was injured and healing.   
So while I never did, and never would, tell him these things. How could he not know what a positive effect he has on people? That he made me a better person?   
“So what you’re telling us, is that our family’s failure to communicate, is what caused him to leave? And that the last eight years of pain, and anger, could have never happened, if we had just talked to each other?” Tim asked   
“Yes” father answered  
“This family is fucked up. We just wasted eight years on being angry, because we are all so fucked up that we can’t even have a conversation” Jason said.


	18. chapter 18

Everyone left shortly after that, we all had things to process, and we needed time to do that. I made myself a quick dinner of mac and cheese, and then got ready for bed.   
I had just gotten into bed, intent on going to sleep, when I heard a noise from my balcony, I pulled a knife from my bedside table and sat up, waiting for whoever it is to show themselves. I let out a sigh of relief when all three of my brothers tumbled in one after the other. It looked like there was shoving involved in getting inside. I put my knife away and waited for them to find me. Damian saw me first, he beckoned the other two over. I watched silently as they all came and settled on my bed, creating a circle of bodies around me.   
“B told us what happened” Damian said   
“Why didn’t you tell us?” he asked, sounding hurt.  
“Why did you never tell me about your nightmares?” I asked him, already knowing the answer. He was embarrassed, he thought it was stupid. He didn’t want anyone to know.   
He nodded at me, letting me know he understood what I was getting at.   
“I hate to say it, but I agreed with B. I thought you just needed a break. If I had known…” Jason trailed off.   
“You know we could have saved a lot of time and pain if we all communicated.” Timmy said.  
“Yeah, I know. But, it wasn’t something I wanted to tell you, I was scared to say that I thought you didn’t want me around anymore, what if you had told me that you really didn’t? That little bit of hope that I had, that it was all in my head, was better than saying something, and being rejected.” I said, biting my lip nervously. hoping that it would help them understand why I did what I did.   
Damian suddenly launched himself onto me, I thought he was gonna hit me until I felt his arms wrap around me. He buried his head in my chest and didn’t move. I instantly hugged him back. Jason then laid down next to me with Tim on the other side, guess they were tired too. Holding Dami to my chest, I slid down until I was lying on my back and drifted off to sleep, surrounded by the comforting sounds of my brothers even breathing.   
The next morning I woke up refreshed, I had no nightmares. I smiled and then caught the scent of food nearby, I sat up instantly hungry. I looked around for the cause of the delicious smell, and located it at the table. My brothers were all sitting around the table eating breakfast from a restaurant down the street, I stumbled from my bed over to the food.   
“Did you get me anything?” I asked sleepily   
“It’s in the bag.” Jason answered  
I walked over to my kitchen and grabbed a mug of coffee before going back to the table and sitting down with my breakfast. Eggs, pancakes and sausages. I quickly formed it into a pancake sandwich and looked up to see the horrified face of Damian.   
“Why, would you do that?” he questioned, sounding horrified.  
“It’s good” I replied before taking a bite.   
When we finished eating we all went out to the balcony to drink our coffee.   
“What are you going to do?” Tim asked me   
“What do you mean?” I questioned back  
“You have a 2 mile radius, you live in New York, you are happy here. What are you going to do?” he clarified   
“I can’t come back to Gotham. I made a life here, I was hoping you guys would want to be a part of that life.” I said a little hesitantly, unsure how they would take the news that I wouldn’t be returning to Gotham.   
“We all work in New York fairly frequently, i’m actually surprised we haven’t run into each other sooner,” Damian said  
I was relieved, they didn’t seem to expect me to go back to Gotham.   
“Listen Goldie, we have been watching you for days. We all knew you weren’t going to return to Gotham. We all saw how you are here, you’re happy.” Jason told me matter of factly.   
“We were all angry when we saw that you had made a new life here, and even though it hurts that you don’t need us. We aren’t going to ask you to leave.” Tim said  
“I do need you guys though, I never let myself be completely happy because I could never stop missing you guys, and don’t get me wrong, I still thought you guys didn’t care about me, but I couldn’t ever stop caring about you. You guys are my family, my brothers. That has never changed.” I said. I figured that if not communicating was what got us into this mess. Maybe communicating would help fix it.   
They all seemed to be taking in what I said. I left them to think about what I had said as I got up to get dressed for work. When I was dressed I came out of my closet only to find Peter sitting outside with my brothers.   
“Hey Peter” I said, trying to gauge his emotions. He hadn’t said much before he left, other than that he needed to think.   
“Hello Neal, ready for work?” he asked, I still couldn’t get a read on him.  
“Yeah, let’s go” I answered   
“You guys can stay here as long as you want, just don’t break anything” I told my brothers as I walked out the door with Peter.   
When we were both buckled into the car Peter looked over at me with an unreadable expression on his face.   
“I never saw you as the older brother type” he said with a smirk   
“As the oldest brother, I take offense to that” I shot back with a genuinely happy smile.   
Him joking with me about this means that he has made up his mind. He understands, he isn’t mad. And that makes me happy, I thought this would be a disaster, it wasn’t, it was what I needed, what my family needed, to finally be happy.   
“El wants to invite your family for dinner tonight. Says it’s to make up for not having dinner last night. I think it’s because she wants to get pictures of you as a kid.” he said  
“I would love to Peter. I’ll ask them later if they can make it” I said smiling.


	19. chapter 19

When we got to work I sat at my desk ready to start on some lovely mortgage fraud. Jones walked over, and using any excuse to not to have to do that, I immediately asked him if he needed anything.   
“What was it like growing up in Gotham?” he asked curiously  
“It wasn’t as bad as everyone says. Although I really grew up in a circus, I only moved in with Bruce when I was 8.” I told him honestly. It really wasn’t that bad growing up in Gotham, I mean, yeah, the crime rates were ridiculously high, but I was a part of the solution to Gotham’s problems. Gotham was my home, and I loved it.   
“Wait, you grew up in a circus?” he asked disbelievingly. I smirked, I always got that reaction.   
“Yeah, Haley’s circus, I was a part of the Flying Graysons. We did a no-net acrobatic act.” I answered   
“Are you trying to tell us that you are secretly a ninja?” Diana asked teasingly.  
“Yes” I answered deadpan. It’s not like they would believe me, even though I was, kind of, telling the truth.   
They both laughed, and I just smiled knowing they had no idea how close to my secret they were getting.   
The rest of the day went on much the same way, I would get some work done, and Jones and Diana would take turns asking me questions. It was actually freeing, being able to talk to someone about my past, the good things about my past. Instead of being stuck in my head, thinking about everything that went wrong.   
It felt like my entire world was crumbling when Damian found me, it meant that my past and my present were colliding, and it was fucking scary. But B actually understood where I was coming from, and I still need to talk with my brothers, we still have some things to work out.   
But overall, i’m happy, the thing I was scared most of, was the thing that is making me the happiest. I get a second chance to make things right with my old family, and my family here isn’t shunning me, or rejecting me, even after finding out that I was keeping 18 years of secrets from them.   
So naturally, that’s when shit had to hit the fan.   
It all started with Hughes calling us up to the conference room.   
When we all got there Peter looked like he was about to punch someone in the face.   
“What wrong Peter?” I asked, worried about what the answer might be.   
“Elizabeth was kidnapped” he stated angrily. Silence reigned throughout the room. The only people actually in the room were me, Peter, Jones, Diana, and Hughes. Hughes then told us to sit down so he could tell us what was happening, wanting to know sooner rather than later we all hurriedly got our asses in seats, except Peter who was pacing anxiously on the far side of the room.   
“After Peter left for work this morning Elizabeth took Satchmo on his morning walk around the neighborhood, sometime during this walk she was taken, one of their neighbors saw Satchmo pacing on the front porch with his leash dragging behind him, they walked over to see why he was out there alone, they called Peter when they found a note under his collar, a ransom note.” Hughes said matter of factly   
“What does the note say?” I asked impatiently   
“If you do not deliver Neal Caffrey to this address within 12 hours, blindfolded, we will kill Mrs. Burke.” he said sadly.   
I felt a shot of guilt run through my body, someone kidnapped El because of me. I have to fix this, we need to find her.  
“Excuse me, I need to make a call” I said, my voice rough with emotion. This was my fault. I was going to fix it. I had already memorised the address, I called Moz quickly.   
“Moz, I need you to pick me up outside the FBI building, hurry” I stated, then I hung up.   
I started making my way down to the ground floor, forcing myself to look casual, I didn’t want anyone to think I was running, even though, technically, I was. When I got outside, Mozzie’s taxi was already out front, waiting for me to hop in. When I did get in Moz handed me a pair of scissors, apparently expecting me to be running.   
“What’s happening Neal?” he asked   
“El has been kidnapped, they want me as ransom, the US government does not negotiate with terrorists. They wouldn’t have traded me. So i’m trading myself.” I answered. He looked over at me his face etched in disbelief.   
“Are you serious Neal? What if they kill you!” he exclaimed  
“If I don’t they will kill El, besides, i’ve been in way worse situations than this.” I told him, and it was the truth, I had been in way worse situations, with a lot more odds stacked against me. I would be fine, El on the other hand, is not like me, I need to get her out.   
I rattled off the address to Moz as I pulled out my phone again.   
“Hey B, El got kidnapped, they want me as ransom, i’m going to the meet up point. I’ve kept up with training so i’ll be fine. Just wait until the trade is made before you do anything.” I told him. Hoping he wouldn’t object to this.   
“We’ll be there” he said before he hung up.   
I then picked my leg up onto the seat and cut my anklet, throwing it out the window, knowing that as soon at it was done, an alarm would sound, and they would be looking for me as well.   
“Um, Neal? How exactly is your father supposed to help in a kidnapping situation? I know he has connections to the Batman, but he works out of Gotham.” Mozzie said, concern lacing his voice.   
I was trying to figure out how to answer him when we finally pulled up at the drop point, I pulled my tie off, ready to tie it around my head as a makeshift blindfold. Thankfully, our arrival saved me from having to answer his questions.   
“I’ll tell you later Moz” I told him as I jumped out of the taxi. I looked around for the park they wanted to retrieve me from, I spotted it down the street a ways. As I started walking down the street, a van suddenly screeched to a stop behind me. I turned around and watched as they ran the couple of feet to me, and didn’t do anything to stop it when one of them smashed me in the head with the butt of his pistol. Damn, I almost forgot how much that hurts. When I opened my eyes everything was a little blurry, but I could still see for the most part. As they dragged me into the van they threw El out of it, blindfolded and gagged. Once I was in the van it took off speeding down the road, one of the men who dragged me into the van handcuffed my hands behind my back and they quickly gagged and blindfolded me. At least the blindfold would staunch the blood flow from the bleeding head wound I now had. Handcuffs, I internally scoffed they obviously aren’t used to kidnapping people. Handcuffs are easy to pick, but I decided to bide my time, waiting to see who kidnapped me, and why.


	20. chapter 20

Peter Burke’s POV

When I got the call that my wife had been kidnapped I was furious. Who would do this? And why? And then we got the note, and it said that they wanted my best friend, or they would kill my wife, I was sick to my stomach.   
Who would want to take Neal? Keller is in jail. We haven’t taken many cases lately, and the ones we have taken were small, and Neal didn’t make enough waves for someone to want to kidnap him. And what would they do if they got him? Did they want to use him for his skills? Or something else?  
All of these thought swirling through my mind were brought to an abrupt halt when Neal came in and asked me what was wrong.   
“Elizabeth was kidnapped” I said angrily. I wasn’t angry at him, I was angry at the people who kidnapped my fucking wife.   
I resumed my pacing while Hughes told the team what happened this morning. When he was finished I looked up to see how my team was reacting to this information, Diana looked determined, Jones looked worried, and Neal just looked pale. He quickly excused himself, presumably to make a phone call.  
He’s probably just getting himself under control before he comes back in here.   
I start to get worried when he doesn’t come back after 10 minutes, I thought he would be back in 5.   
That’s when all hell broke loose, my phone started blaring an alarm. I quickly pulled it out of my pocket to see that Neal’s anklet was offline, probably cut. Shit shit shit, what’s he thinking?  
“Neal cut his anklet” I said, my voice verging on panic, first El, and now Neal.   
“He’s only been gone ten minutes, he can’t have gotten far” Jones said determinedly   
“It’s Caffrey, he could be anywhere by now” Diana retorted, and she was right. Neal could have gone anywhere in ten minutes.   
“Think, guys, where would he go? Why did-” I cut myself off. I knew where he was going. He was going to trade himself for El.   
“Get me that address, I know where he went. Jones, Diana, come with me.”   
They both quickly jumped out of their seat and started following me to my car.   
“What’s the address Jones?” I asked once we were all in my car  
He rattled off the address as I plugged it into my GPS. Shit, we were going to be too late, it was a good 10 minutes away, he would already be gone by the time we get there.   
I was right, by the time we got there, Neal was gone and El and Mozzie were sitting inside his taxi, El looked a little shaken up, but not injured, thank god.   
“Hon” I called out when we were a couple feet from the car, she quickly turned and opened the door hurrying out and hugging me.   
“Are you okay hon? They didn’t hurt you?” I asked, needing her to confirm it.   
“No i’m fine, but honey, they took Neal” she said. She didn’t seem all that concerned that she was just kidnapped, but she was obviously concerned that they just kidnapped Neal.   
“I know, they wanted Neal in the first place, I guess they couldn’t get a clear shot at him, so they went for you instead, prompting him to give himself up.” I told her, not wanting her to blame herself, but at the same time, not willing to lie to her.   
Mozzie then got out of the cab.   
“We have to find Neal” he said, concern lacing his voice  
“He called his father before he went, but I don’t know how that’s supposed to help” he said, confused.   
“How about we all go back to the office, we can call the Waynes on our way and have them meet us there. If he called his dad, then maybe he can give us some answers” Jones said, obviously wanting us to get off the street.   
“Yeah. Jones is right, one of us was just kidnapped, we should go back to the office and regroup, try and figure out who took Neal” Diana agreed   
“What about me?” Mozzie asked sounding hesitant  
“You, are coming with us. You saw what happened. Don’t worry, we won’t put you into the system, we just want to know what’s going on” I told him. Knowing that his hesitancy was stemming from not wanting to be put in the system, not from not wanting to help Neal.   
We all piled back into my car and Mozzie’s, Jones was driving my car, and I was in the back with El, wanting to keep her close.   
By the time we had gotten to the office, Diana had called the Wayne’s and they reluctantly agreed to meet us at the FBI building. I’m not sure why they were reluctant though….  
We were all up in one of the conference rooms, waiting for the Wayne’s to arrive.   
When they got there, they all looked a bit ruffled, and missing one member. Jason wasn’t there. Odd.   
They all made their way up to the conference room, when they got inside we could finally hear what they were talking about.   
“Why are we here father? You know we could find him a lot faster than the FBI.” Damian said with no small amount of disdain.  
I wonder what that’s about? Why would they be able to find him faster than the FBI? And why does Damian seem to hold so much contempt for us?   
Damian was quieted by a quite chilling look from his father.   
“So, Dick was kidnapped?” Bruce then asked in a conversational tone. What the fuck?  
“Um, yeah, you don’t seem very worried about that Mr. Wayne” I asked, this personality was such a turnaround from the first time we met him, it was weird.   
“We get kidnapped more than the average person, being the sons of one of the richest men in the world seems to have that effect” Tim said  
“And I am worried about him, I also know he can handle himself” Bruce said   
“Are we talking about the same person? The Caffrey we know can’t even throw a decent punch” Diana said, disbelief coloring her words.   
“All of my children have taken defence classes since they were young, and yes, Dick can throw a decent punch” Bruce said, with some amusement at the last statement.   
“How about we focus on the real problem, Neal was kidnapped!” Mozzie said, slightly panicky, from the other end of the table.  
“Of course. What do you need me to do?” Bruce asked.


	21. 21

After about an hour of driving in circles, the van finally stopped. It seems they want me to think that we were going further away than we really were, but when you make four consecutive right turns, a lot, it becomes pretty obvious that you are going in circles. Seeing as we made so many circles I would guess that we aren’t far from where I was taken from, and definitely still in the city.   
I was brought out of my musings by one of the men roughly grabbing my arm and dragging me out of the van. I was still blindfolded and gagged with my hands cuffed behind my back, but they expected me to hurry up and walk.   
Um, can’t see shit guys.   
They quickly got fed up with waiting for me, and I was suddenly picked up and thrown over someone’s shoulder. I felt the temperature drop as we entered a building, most likely a warehouse, considering the echoing footsteps. I was then put down, dragged down a flight of stairs and shoved into a room. I sprung into action as soon as I heard the lock click, meaning I was alone.   
I slid the bobby pin out of a hidden compartment in my watch and quickly slid the cuffs off, once that was done I reached up and pulled off the gag and blindfold.   
when my eyes adjusted to the dim lighting in the room I started to look around.   
Four walls, concrete, no windows, one small light in the ceiling, one door, a cot, and a toilet.   
The lock is on the outside of the door so there is no chance of picking it.   
Fuck.   
No chance at escaping until someone actually enters the room. Great. I was hoping this would be some sort of half-assed kidnapping attempt where the kidnapper would tie me to a chair and talk a lot. Those situations were easy to get out of. This, though, this is a lot harder, escaping is easy when there are people around to manipulate.   
They just locked me in a room, basically destroying any chances I have of escaping until they make the first move.   
At least I told B I was trading myself, and Mozzie knows. Peter and Bruce will be looking for me.   
Right as I was settling down onto the cot I heard the telltale sounds of the door being unlocked, I quickly sat up, ready to fight.   
When in walked someone I definitely wasn’t expecting, Matthew Keller. The Matthew Keller that is supposed to be in jail. His men swarmed me and zip tied me to a chair they dragged in behind them.   
I quickly blanked my face, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing my shock.   
“Surprise! Did you miss me Neal?” he asks  
“No” I answer coldly.  
“Aw come on, we used to be friends” he whines. I ignore him.   
“What are you doing here Keller? You are supposed to be rotting in a prison cell” I ask him.   
“What? You think you’re the only one who can pull a prison break?” he asks.   
I just sighed, hoping that someone arrived to save me from having to listen to Keller talk.  
“I was expecting it to be harder than it was, after I was in there for a while, I made some friends, friends who made it pretty easy to slip out without anyone noticing. At least for a while.” he said smugly  
Why didn’t you just leave the country? You have the resources, and the means to get out. Why stay here, just to kidnap me? I mean, i’m flattered, but your going to get caught.” I told him.  
If he really wanted to, I know he could have been gone before they could catch him. Yet here he is, kidnapping me. Why? I know he is angry, I was the one to put him in jail, but I didn’t think he would be angry enough to blatantly call the attention of the FBI to himself. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, he is by no means dumb, so I thought he was smart enough to know when to bail. Apparently not.   
I was snapped out of my thoughts by a sharp pain to the right side of my jaw.   
He punched me.   
I turned my head back to face him, smirking, if he thought one lousy punch from a weak little rodent like him was enough to faze me, he’s dumber than I thought.   
I could see that my smirk caught him off guard, he was surprised that I wasn’t cowering.   
“Who taught you how to hit? An infant?” I asked him, amusement lacing my voice.   
His face grew increasingly red until he resembled a tomato.  
I laughed, he hit me again, I laughed again, he hit me again. And around the circle went, until somewhere around the fifteen minute mark when Keller suddenly dropped to the floor, I was confused until I looked to the doorway to see Red Hood standing there.   
“He dead?” I asked after I spit the blood out of my mouth.   
“Knocked out” he answered.   
“Why didn’t you do anything?” he asked me, confusion evident in his voice  
“They zip tied my hands to the chair, not each other, couldn’t dislocate my thumbs. I was working on getting the knife out of my sleeve, but there were people behind me, I had to do it slowly. I was getting there.” I answered, slightly defensive.   
“Not accusing, just wondering” he said placatingly.   
I then got my knife the rest of the way out and sliced the ties around my wrists, being careful not to slice my skin.   
I carefully stood up and stretched, then I looked behind me to see that everyone in the room besides me and Jason were knocked out.   
“I’d better make a call to the office, Peter is probably worried” I said as I walked past Jason and out the door, I was right, warehouse.   
Jason followed me out the door and into the warehouse.   
“Thank you Jay” I told him sincerely   
“No problem Goldie” he answered as he left.


	22. chapter 22

When Jason was gone I picked up the burner phone he left for me and called Peter.   
“Hey Peter” I greeted when he picked up  
“Neal?” he asked disbelievingly   
“Yeah” I answered and rattled off the address   
“Make sure to bring some agents, there are a bunch of unconscious kidnappers here” I told him happily.   
“Who was it Neal? Who took you?” he asked hurriedly.   
“Matthew Keller. He apparently broke out of prison to come see me” I said  
“We’ll be there in ten” he told me right before he hung up. He sounded angry, although he has the right, this would be the second time that Keller has kidnapped El.   
When me and Jason left the room I closed and locked it behind us, so none of them were getting out anytime soon. That leaves, absolutely nothing for me to do until they arrive.   
I reach up to try and assess the damage to my face. Split lip, swollen left eye, and a small laceration over my right eyebrow. I’ll be fine, just have to ice my left eye so the swelling goes down, and i’ll probably have a black eye for a while.   
Since i’m getting bored fast I decide to call B, to let him know i’m alright.   
“Hey B” I greet   
“Dick” he said instead of an actual hello.   
“I’m alright, sorry if I worried you with my phone call earlier, it was an old rival of mine, Jay helped me out and the FBI is on it’s way” I told him   
“Good” he said, and I could hear the relief in his voice  
“What did you mean when you said that you were keeping up with training?” he asked curiously.  
“Um, I go to the gym, I found this cool MMA gym and they let me spar with them, and it’s in my radius. Sometimes I go out on the rooftops, I don’t have any of my equipment, but I can still go running on the rooftops. I’m definitely not where I used to be, but I haven’t fallen that far behind” I told him truthfully.   
I want to go back to Gotham, just for a little while, I want to be able to go to the Batcave, and I want to train with my family, and I want to go on patrol, and I really want to hug Alfred. I might have made a home here with people I consider family, but my family being here, it makes me miss Gotham, it makes me miss patrol, it makes me miss flying, it even makes me miss the brutal training with B.   
That feeling hits me like a bag of bricks, I miss Gotham.   
Not that I want to move back there, but I definitely want to visit, often.   
I’m pulled out of my thoughts by the loud bang of a door being slammed open.   
“Neal” Peter calls out my name.   
“Over here” I call back.   
They locate me easily, Diana was the first one to find me, and as soon as she sees my face she winces in sympathy.   
“That bad?” I question, I haven’t had the chance to look at my face in a mirror.   
She just nods  
“You hurt anywhere else Caffrey?” she asks. Concern lacing her voice.   
“No, Keller just decided he wanted to use my face as a punching bag” I told her with an upbeat voice.   
20 minutes later Keller and all of his goons had been loaded up into cars and taken away.   
Peter, Jones, Diana, and me were all walking towards Peter’s car.   
“That was like the fastest kidnapping ever, it’s not even dark yet.” I pointed out happily.   
“Yeah, about that, Neal, how did you get out?” Jones questioned.   
“Um” I answer, scrambling for an answer, then I look up and to the left to see a security camera. No way out, there’s evidence.   
“Red Hood” I answer sheepishly  
“The mob boss Red Hood? The one who gets into fights with Batman Red Hood?” Jones questioned disbelievingly   
“Yes” I tell him  
“Why” Peter asks, confusion blanketing his face  
“Um, well, you see, I maybe just, know him, a little bit” I answer   
“Know him, as in know of him, or know him as in friends?” Peter asks  
“Um, we worked together before he went all mob bossy, he’s not a bad guy” I argued. And yes I understand that I am sticking up for a mob boss, but that mob boss just happens to be my little brother and I love him. As twisted as he may be, he is still my little brother, and he does have his heart in the right place, he wants to help innocent people. So I will stick up for him.   
“Not a, not a bad guy!?” Jones questions, in obvious disbelief.   
“He kills people! A lot of people!” he blurted out  
“No, the amount of killings attributed to the Red Hood has gone significantly down in recent years” I pointed out.   
I have been paying attention to news concerning my family, and i’m proud of Jay, he is trying.   
“Why do you know that?” Jones then asks  
“It’s a lot easier to avoid people if you know what they are up to and where they are. Gotham is always reporting on the Wayne’s, so if I keep up with the news in Gotham I know where they are. And the news in Gotham reports on criminal activity” I tell them  
Peter just nods, letting me know he got it. Jones still looks confused that I was defending a criminal. And Diana looked like she was thinking over what I said.  
We finally arrived at the car. As we all piled in I asked where we were going.   
“The office” Peter answered me   
I suddenly remembered something.  
“Is El alright?” I asked, I only saw her for a moment before they closed the van door.   
“She’s fine, a little shaken up, but mostly worried about you.” Peter told me.   
Sounds like El, she gets kidnapped and ends up worrying about my well being.   
“Are there any ice-packs at the office? If I don’t get ice on this soon I won’t be able to see out of this eye” I said, legitimately concerned about the well-being of my face.  
“Yeah there should be ice-packs in the break room” Diana told me with a smirk.


	23. chapter 23

When we got back to the office I quickly got an ice-pack for my eye and then went back to my desk, but by the time I got back, there was someone waiting for me.   
“Mozzie?” I asked, why would Mozzie be here? Him and the government don’t mix.   
“What are you doing here?” I asked  
“You were kidnapped! I was worried” he said fidgeting, obviously uncomfortable here.   
“Come on Moz, why don’t we go outside, i’ll walk you to your car.” I tell him   
He nods, his movements jerky.   
When we get outside he finally relaxes a little.   
“Your father is odd Neal, he didn’t seem at all worried that you were kidnapped. He sounded like an absolute airhead” Mozzie said, and then realising that he said it aloud, he opened his mouth again, probably to take back what he just said.  
“Don’t worry Moz, it’s fine. He’s not stupid though. It’s an act he puts on, he’s actually quite brilliant” I tell him truthfully, I debated lying, but Moz is like my brother.   
“Okay, but then why wasn’t he acting like that the other night?” Moz questions  
“He hadn’t seen me in eight years” I answered. There was silence for a while.   
“Why aren’t you angry?” I blurted out  
“Not that i’m not happy that you guys don’t seem to be angry, but why? I lied to you, for years. It doesn’t make sense” I told him, this had been on the back of my mind for a while now, and I want to know. It honestly doesn’t make sense to me, why are they forgiving me? I don’t deserve forgiveness, I abandoned my family, I lied to the people who are now also my family. It doesn’t make sense.   
It took Moz a few moments to answer.  
“Neal, when I first met you, you were a wreck. An emotional wreck, no matter how perfect you looked, it was easy to see you were hurting. One look in your eyes and I could tell you were shattered. So I decided you needed a friend, and I tried to find things that made you happy, that made you look just a little less broken. Kate, made you happy for a while, forging made you happy, painting, the rush of finishing a heist. But you were never completely happy, there was always that underlying sadness. And sometimes it was worse, sometimes it was better. And working for the FBI, working with Peter, and Jones and Diana. Getting to know El and making friends here. That made you the happiest i’d ever seen you before. Until the other night, when your dad told you that they were looking for you, that they cared, that they missed you. You looked truly happy. For the first time since I met you, you were happy, and that sad, broken look that was always there, just underneath the surface, was gone. So while yes, it hurt that you lied to me, I could never take that away from you, your my brother Neal.” Mozzie said.   
I was close to tears by the end of it. I quickly hugged Moz and thanked him as he got in his car and left.   
When I had finally gotten myself under control I went to get some coffee’s to excuse my absence from the office.  
When I got back to the office Peter immediately asked me where I went. I help up the coffee as proof.   
“Neal, it doesn’t take that long to get coffee” he told me  
“I walked Moz to his car, he was still a little shaken up from being in the FBI offices” I told him with a smirk   
“El still wants to do dinner tonight, can your family still make it?” Peter asked  
“Oh, yeah. I asked them this morning they said they were all free” I told him   
“Even Jason?” he asked  
“Um, yeah, why wouldn’t Jason come?” I ask confused   
“When you got kidnapped Mozzie told us that you called your father before you traded yourself, so we called in your family, thinking they might know who took you, everyone but Jason showed up.” he told me  
“Oh, Jason was probably working” I told him. And it’s the truth, Jay was working to get me un-kidnapped.   
“So did it help?” I asked  
“Did what help?” he said confused  
“Calling my family in? Were they any help?” I clarified  
“You called right after they arrived, so we sent them back to their hotel. Your father did say something though, he said ‘all of his children have taken self defense classes since they were young, and you can throw a decent punch’ wanna explain?” Peter asked   
“Oh, um, about that, I can fight, pretty well actually. But that doesn’t really help my non-violent status, I figured that if everyone thought I couldn’t fight, it would be easier to convince people that I wasn’t violent. Not saying that I am violent, just that not many people who can fight as well as I do, will get labeled as non-violent.” I told him sheepishly.   
Diana then spoke up from behind me, I knew she was there the whole time. It’s hard to sneak up on a bat.   
“Are you trying to tell me that you can fight? For real? Like actually fight?” she asked, incredulous.   
“Um, yeah. I go to an MMA gym a couple blocks inside my radius, they let me spar.” I told them.   
“Now this I have to see” she said  
She then walked over to Jones desk and pulled him over to us.   
“We, are going down to the gym in the basement, and you, are sparring with me and Jones.” she said matter of factly   
Peter smiled as we all made our way to the basement laughing and joking with each other.   
When we got down to the basement Jones gave me a pair of shorts and a tank top to change into. Diana was dressed and waiting in the ring when we got out of the locker room.   
“So I guess Diana first then?” I asked.   
She nodded as I made my way over to the ring.   
When we were both squared off inside the ring, stances steady, Peter gave us the go ahead to start.   
Diana was good, but I was better. She made the first move and I evaded, it went on like that for a while, she would strike out and I would avoid or block, she caught me a couple times, and my ribs were a little sore. After about 2 minutes she started to lose energy, and I struck. With a flurry of kicks, punched, flips and grapples, she was pinned to the floor with me on top, sporting a triumphant grin.   
She looked just a little bit stunned, I quickly stood and pulled her along with me.   
“Your good, it was a fun spar” I told her truthfully.   
Jones was up next.   
He was much more reserved than Diana had been, he waited for me to strike first. And when I did, he caught me in the ribs with a solid punch, I smirked and moved back. It went on like that for a couple minutes, each of us landing blows. When I started to get tired I decided to end the fight. I quickly ducked into Jones and took him down with a quick kick to the back of the knee, I followed him down and pinned him before standing up and offering a hand.   
I was happy, I always enjoyed sparring, it was a fun way to release pent up energy.   
“Your both pretty good, we should do this more often” I told them truthfully. They weren’t that much of a challenge, but it was definitely fun.   
“Your actually really good Neal” Peter said.   
“You thought I was lying?” I asked teasingly  
“No, but I didn’t think you would be able to take down Jones and Diana, they are 2 of our top agents” he told me.   
I shrugged and made my way back into the locker room to shower and change back into my suit.


	24. chapter 24

After I was showered and changed into my suit again, we all made our way upstairs.   
I went immediately to my desk to do some of the paperwork that had piled up during my brief kidnapping. Jones came over about an hour later to let me know that Keller was back in jail, with new guards and more security measures in place. I was relieved to know that I wouldn’t have to deal with him again.   
It was another boring day, we didn’t have any leads on the painting that was taken from B’s office, and no new cases were cropping up.   
I ended up doing paperwork and goofing off the whole rest of the day, so I was in a good mood by the time I got back to my apartment. My brothers were all piled on the couches, Jason was reading, Damian was on his phone and Tim was, predictably, on his laptop. I was greeted with distracted hello’s from my brothers, I just smiled and went to change. When I got back out they were all sitting at attention, devices put away.   
“Hey guys, what’s up?” I questioned curiously.   
“We need to talk Dick” Tim said ominously, he definitely got that from B.   
“Yeah, I was thinking the same thing, not sure if we want to talk about the same things though” I rambled, slightly nervous. I went to sit on the other couch across from them, it felt like we were on different sides, the coffee table separating us, we all looked nervous. Though that could be from the fact that B is emotionally constipated and has obviously passed that on to his sons, and while I might be the most open of us all, it’s still not exactly normal how we cram all of our emotions down inside and then let it out by beating up criminals on the streets.   
I was pulled out of my musings via excessive throat clearing from Damian. When he was sure that he had my attention he looked over and nodded to Tim.  
“B told us why you left, and we understand that you were hurting, and that’s why you chose to leave, but we still think it might be beneficial for us to all get some things off our chests, you included.” he said   
“Ok, I’ve been thinking the same thing, I think it would make it easier to understand, um, everything, I guess” I said, relieved. They wanted the same thing that I did.   
“So, who goes first?” I questioned Tim, he seemed to be the one who put this together, Dami and Jay have been looking to him for confirmation the whole time we’ve been speaking.   
“I’ll go first I guess” he said hesitantly   
“So, you left, we all know that, but it hit us all differently. For me, I could never really wrap my head around you leaving of your own volition, even though all of the signs pointed to that, I didn’t want to believe it. I wanted to believe that somehow, you had to leave. And somehow, me not being able to wrap my head around you leaving on your own, was worse. Because then I had these horrible nightmares, of you dying, or being tortured, and we would find you, but it was never with enough time to save you. And I was so angry, mostly at myself, for the longest time, because we couldn’t find you. And the thing that kept going through my mind was that you might be hurt, or dead, and we couldn’t find you. And it took me a long time to figure out how to push that down far enough, that I could still be happy, that I could hang out with everyone, and be able to smile without feeling this overwhelming sadness, because you weren’t there. We didn’t know where you were, or if you were alright. And then when we found you here, happy, with new people, and a job, and you were normal. That’s when it hit me. You really did leave us, and then I was so angry, at you, at the world, at myself. Because all of this time that you’ve been gone, I was hurting, so much, and then we found you, and it turns out, you were fine.” he says.   
I was now crying silently. I put my brothers through so much pain, and I don’t know how to make it better. Then Damian spoke up.   
“I’ll go next” he offered. We all nodded, and he took a few moments to compose himself.   
“When you left, to go to Europe, I was worried about you. Father told us that he thought that you needed some time away, and I was confused, but I listened. I was confused, because I thought you were invincible. And I didn’t know what father meant when he said that you needed some time, but I listened. Because, I didn’t know any better, because, I was an emotionally stunted fucking child. And you were the first real, good, role model that i’d ever had. And I looked up to you, and you were my big brother. And you left. I didn’t understand what had been going on with you, you were acting odd, and you weren’t taking care of yourself, and then you were, just, gone. So I lashed out, and I blamed father, and I blamed myself, because I didn’t know any better, and I was angry. And then when I turned around in that conference room, and you were right there, and I yelled at you, because that’s how I deal with things. Because I thought you didn’t care. because I was hurting, for a long time, and no one ever taught me a good place to put that hurt, so I lash out, and I hurt the people around me.” he finished when he started getting choked up. I was just sitting on my couch, silently crying, listening to my brother’s pain.   
“I guess that means i’m next, huh?” Jason asked with forced humor.   
After a few moments he got his thoughts in order and started.   
“When you first started acting weird, I asked B if he noticed too, he had, but he didn’t know what was wrong either. I decided to let it blow over, but B was worried about you. You weren’t eating enough, you weren’t sleeping, you seemed, sad. So he told everyone to give you a break, take over more of your patrols, leave you be for a while. And I agreed with him, this fucked up family of our’s, it’s too much sometimes. We all end up needing a break. So when a couple weeks later, you said you were going on a trip, it just solidified that thought for me, I thought you would go have fun in Europe, and you would come back your normal sunshine-coming-out-your-ass self. But when you didn’t come back, I knew I had fucked up. I knew something was wrong, but I still didn’t know what. I could never figure out what had gone wrong, what happened that made you leave. And eventually, that hurt, that pain, of knowing I fucked up and you were gone. Just became anger, because, what gave you the right to leave us, I was more fucked in the head than you, I didn’t leave. At least not for good, I always came back, so what gave you the right, to leave me. And somewhere along the line, I forgot that you must have been hurting too, I forgot that you were sad when you left, that you weren’t eating, that you weren’t sleeping. And I was just, angry.” He finished before he started crying too.  
Now we are all crying, I guess that’s what a lifetime of emotional oppression gets us.   
“So, I guess that leaves me for last” I stated, I took a few deep breaths before I started.   
“I don’t know what it was, that first made me feel like this. But I know it started small, just here and there, someone getting annoyed at my peppiness, or telling me to go away because I was annoying. Just small things, things that people have been telling me all my life, and it never really bothered me, because I knew that the way I acted offended certain people. But one day, it all started catching up with me, all of these things people had said to me my whole life, started coming to the forefront of my mind, and they started affecting me in a way they never had before, it was always so easy to let things roll off my back, because I was always secure in the knowledge that you guys loved me. That I had a place in the world, a good place. But at that point, those thoughts and those feelings overrode any certainty that I had that I was needed, that I was loved, that I was worth, something, anything. And it was starting to overwhelm me, and then you guys started to pull away, and it just solidified those feelings. And so I decided that maybe if I got away for a while, maybe then I could, I don’t really know what I thought getting away would do for me. But I knew that I had to get away, to run away, so I did. And for a little while after I ran, I was alright, but then I got one phone call, in four months, I got one phone call. And it just doubled the hurt, and it made me feel like, like, you guys were fine without me, like I was a burden, and that you didn’t care if I came back. Because if you wanted me to come back, you would have called. So I ditched my phone, and I was drunk for a while, a long while. But eventually I got sober, and I made myself a new ID, and I hopped a plane to NYC. I thought, if you guys didn’t want me around, what’s the use in going home? So I just, didn’t. And I know that you guys hacked everything that the FBI has on me, so you pretty much know the rest, became a thief, stole some stuff, forged some stuff, went to prison, and now I work with the FBI.”  
Once I finished telling them everything, it felt like this huge weight had been lifted off my chest, like I could breathe again, for the first time, in a very long time.


	25. chapter 25

That night, after we all talked, we kinda just lapsed into silence for a while, we were all thinking about what was said. It hurt, to know that my brothers were in so much pain when I left them, yet somehow, it also makes me feel better. That I wasn’t the only one in pain. And I know that’s fucked up, being relieved that my family was hurting, but it’s better than the pain of thinking that they just didn’t give a shit about me, of thinking that they just didn’t care, that they didn’t want me around, that they would be fine with me leaving, that they wouldn’t go looking for me if I just disappeared one day. Those things that I had been feeling for years now, the feelings of inadequacy, of being a failure, they all kind of just, melted away when they told me how much it affected them when I was gone.   
I was pulled out of my thoughts when Jason stood up and cleared his throat, getting our attention.   
“Come on, we’ve got a dinner to get to” he said, not sounding too happy about that fact.   
“Cheer up Jay, it’s not like those charity galas we had to go to as kids, it’s just at Peter’s house, El just wants to get to know you guys” I told him   
“Yeah that’s what i’m worried about, normal people, getting to know me” he said, like as if I should have picked up on that already.   
“You’ll be fine, I mean, they like me, it’s not that big of a leap to say they’ll like you too” I told him truthfully.   
He just grunted.   
“Who has a car we can take?” I asked   
“I’m the only one who brought a car with me” Tim said   
“Alright, Timmy’s car it is” I said cheerily as we all filed out the door. Bruce is gonna meet us there later, he has a meeting to finish up before he can come to dinner. Hopefully no one dies or blows anything up before he shows up.   
When we all arrived, I toppled out of the car, a bickering Jason and Damian behind me, if we had been in that car five minutes longer, it probably would have come to blows. The fight started because Damian didn’t want to sit in the back, but Jason argued that since Damian was still smaller than him, Damian should be stuck in the back. I ended up in the back, but they just kept fighting, it had evolved to pushing a few minutes ago, but hadn’t moved onto punching just yet. Tim was standing in front of me, his fingers slowly rubbing circles on his temples. By the time we all made it to the door and rang the bell, Damian and Jason hadn’t stopped pushing and arguing. Tim looked like he just wanted to get away from them, and I was just about ready to explode.   
“Shut the fuck up! Damian you’re riding home with B tonight, Jason so help me god I will punch you if you do not stop antagonising Damian!” I exploded at them, they looked thoroughly chastised at that. After giving them both a lingering glare, I turned back to face the door, only to find it open with Peter looking at me. Amusement playing across his features, he was hiding a smile as he invited us all inside.   
“Hey Peter” I greeted with a smile, recovering from my momentary lapse in control.   
“Hello Neal” he said, amusement still lingering in his voice.   
“Where is Bruce?” he asked curiously   
“He got caught up in a meeting, he should be here in a few minutes though.” I answered   
I turned around when I heard a thump, it was Damian hitting the floor, Jason with his back turned to him, looking completely innocent. Damian was about to say something when he was quieted by Satchmo trotting over to lick his face. His argument with Jason completely forgotten, Damian sat up and started petting Satchmo, who in turn laid down and soaked up the attention. I just smiled, glad to see that Damian’s love for animals hadn’t diminished over the years.   
A few minutes later found us sitting around the living room making small talk, Damian was still on the floor with Satchmo, and Jason seems to have relaxed some, he was now talking quietly with Elizabeth. Me, Tim, and Peter watching on with interest. We had all been talking together for a few minutes, but then the two of them quietly gravitated into their own conversation. I have never seen Jason take to someone so quickly. I don’t think Tim has either, not with the way he’s watching them.   
After a couple minutes of me, Tim, and Peter making small talk, the doorbell rang, signalling the arrival of Bruce. Peter got up and answered the door, Bruce entered with the same aura of power and safety that he’s always had, as he walked further into the room El stood up and he handed her a bottle of wine, as a thank you for dinner.   
I could tell by the way he looked slightly puzzled that he saw the way that Jason and El were interacting, and he found it strange too, Jason normally takes a while to warm up to anyone. After he died, he became jaded and cynical, not that anyone could blame him, but it was a definitive change from the happy little boy that he was before, he was wary of new people when B first took him in, but after a while, he opened up, and he really just needed people to love him, but the mistrust that he had when he was living on the streets, was amplified a hundredfold when he was killed and then brought back.   
I was pulled out of my musings when everyone stood up and started making their way to the dining room.   
All in all, it was a nice dinner, there were no damning topics brought up, there were some questions about what it was like growing up with Bruce, and there were some embarrassing stories shared about my childhood. I think they might have sensed that me and my brothers were emotionally exhausted, because no one brought up anything that would be too hard to talk about, it didn’t feel like an interrogation, like my last dinner with them had been like. Everyone laughed, and told stories, it was a lot more enjoyable than I had been expecting. After dinner we had coffee and dessert. Everyone said their goodbyes, and I made sure that Damian was loaded up into Bruce’s car, so as not to start another argument on who gets what seat.   
And as I collapsed into my bed that night, I was smiling.


	26. The End

The next day at work we all ran down leads on the painting that was stolen form Bruce’s office, only to have him come in at the end of the day to tell us that whoever took it, returned it sometime during the day. By the smirk lingering on his face, I could tell that he had gone out and gotten it back, it wasn’t returned.   
So when I got back to my apartment, I wasn’t all that surprised to find B there, drinking wine on my couch, and having a conversation with Mozzie. From the little bit of their conversation that I heard before I opened the door, they were discussing the merits of different conspiracy theories. I just smiled at them and went to go change into something more comfortable, when I came out of my closet I was surprised to see Moz waiting for me, an excited look on his face.   
“Your dad is Batman!” he said excitedly   
“Um, what?” I said, dumbfounded.   
“The way that you work, when your in the middle of a heist, I figured out that you were Nightwing a long time ago, but Nightwing hasn’t been spotted in years. I figured you were retired. So I never brought it up. But now that i’ve spent time with your father, he’s definitely Batman. And that means that Jason is the Red Hood, and Timothy is Red Robin, and Damian is Robin.” he explained.  
I would try and refute what he’s saying, but he got it all figured out. Even if I tried to tell him he’s wrong, which he isn’t, he would just figure out how to get proof, and then be upset at me because I lied to him.   
“How?” I asked instead   
“The way you work, it wasn’t that hard to put you and Nightwing together. Jason’s leather jacket and overall demeanor gives him away, besides i’ve worked with him before, the build, the jacket, the attitude. Damian fits the build of the latest Robin, and that leaves Batman and Red Robin, Batman has been around long enough that I know he couldn’t be Timothy, so Tim is Red Robin, and Bruce is Batman.” he finishes with a triumphant grin.   
I probably should have expected this, Mozzie is one of the smartest most paranoid people I know. He is quite observant, and he works on conspiracy theories in his spare time, I should have figured he would have at least worked on the ‘who is Batman’ theory before.   
I then looked over into my living room, where Bruce was sitting with a smile on his face, weird, I thought he would be pissed someone figured it out. He then said something unexpected.   
“I like him, he’s smart. He also knows how to keep a secret” the last part was growled out as a threat.  
Mozzie gulped from beside me and just nodded.   
“It was nice meeting you Mr. Wayne, I hope to talk to you again soon, see ya later Neal.” Moz said as he hurried out the door, probably a little shaken from being threatened by Batman.   
“We need to talk Dick” Bruce said, sounding like Tim had yesterday.  
“Okay” I said hesitantly   
“I bugged your apartment” he said, without a trace of emotion on his face.   
“Why!?” I asked, outraged. What gives him the right?   
“I know you have passports and ways to leave the country, fast. I wanted to be able to know if you were planning on leaving again” he said, matter of factly.   
“Oh” was all I said.   
“That means you heard me and the boys conversation yesterday?” I asked him.   
“Yes” he answered   
“Listen, Dick. When you left, you almost tore us apart. The boys were fighting each other to the point of serious injury, and I was so wrapped up in trying to find you, that I didn’t even try and stop it. And listening to you yesterday, explain to them why you left, I understand. I get why you left, and I know that you were hurting, so I need you to never forget. You will always have a place in this family. No matter what happens, no matter what you do, you will always have a place with us. Your my son, and I will always love you. I don’t care what you choose to do, just don’t leave again.” he said.   
The steel reinforced walls that he always has up behind his eyes, hiding his emotions, are finally down, and I can see that he means every word that he’s saying.   
I decide to to pull a Damian and launch myself over to hug him, no warning. I just need a hug right now, and honestly, B gives the best hugs. 

** Time-skip one year later ** 

I smirked as I sauntered out of the building a free man, my commutation hearing went perfectly. I already told Peter that I would be back at the office monday morning, but my first thing to do when I was a free man, was to go to the Manor, for the first time in 9 years. Over the last year since my family found me, they have all visited me, including Alfred, a lot. We all spent christmas at Peter’s house, and it made me so happy to have all of my family together for the holidays, both my families have meshed surprisingly well, Jason and El became close and Jason visits her just as much as he visits me. Moz and B have also struck up an odd friendship consisting of wine and conspiracy theories. Damian and Tim come up the most out of everyone, and they crash at my apartment at least every other week. Damian loves going over to the Burkes house, mainly for Satchmo, but I know he likes El and Peter too. Tim and Peter watch baseball together, and El always makes Tim take a nap when we are over at their house, she says he should sleep more, and I agree. El has taken over being the mother of our motley little group of misfits and fuck-ups, and it suits her well, she basically just started telling us what to do one day, and we all listened. She is pretty much our new leader. Damian has also made it a habit of his to come to work with me so he can hang out with Diana, they are scary together, they whisper and laugh, and it’s downright creepy, I think they are planning a murder. Jones and Tim like to geek out over computers and have taught each other a lot, they hang out and help each other update their software and different ways to hack different people, they became fast friends. Overall, i’m the happiest i’ve been in years, and i’m about to be so much happier, because tonight, tonight I get to go out on patrol. Now that i’m a free man, I plan to go to Gotham on the weekends so I can be Nightwing again. My room is still there, alabiet missing a few things, since my brothers decided that now that I wasn’t missing it would be alright if they stole some things from my room. Alfred has kept a running tally of who stole what for me, and I plan on retrieving those items as soon as I get the time, they won’t know what hit them.   
“Hey Tim” I greeted as I swung myself into the passenger seat of his car.   
“Ready to go” he asked with a grin on his face. We were all excited to go patrolling together again.   
I nodded my head excitedly as he revved the engine and took off down the road, speeding towards Gotham.

END

**Author's Note:**

> Thoughts? good? bad? meh? lemme know what you think. :)


End file.
